From Omeleto.
A woman loses her mind.
BLANK is used with permission from Avishai Weinberger. Learn more at https://instagram.com/avishaioddity.
Tova is a lively young woman living in the city, with a job, apartment and a loving boyfriend named Alek. All seems to be going well, but soon Tova begins to experience periods of disassociation where she "blacks out." She has no memory of what just happened, but to Alek and her loved ones, it’s as if another personality takes over.
These "blanks" take a toll on Tova’s life and relationships. Alek is desperate for Tova to get help, but despite his entreaties, Tova refuses to believe anything is amiss. But in her continued refusal to face her problem, she might lose everything she holds dear.
Directed by Avishai Weinberger from a script co-written with Tova Weinberger, who also plays Tova, this gripping short thriller-drama charts the deterioration of a relationship as a woman slowly loses her mind. Intricately written and shot with a cool, muted naturalism, the drama comes from watching a pair of loving, committed partners fall apart, but the suspense and tension are built around what emerges in the place of Tova’s bubbly, energetic personality. The result is a compelling psychological puzzle, as a man races to save his partner when she refuses to face herself.
The story weaves together both Tova’s and Alek’s perspectives, tracing not only Tova’s deterioration but Alek’s increasingly desperate efforts to help Tova. Tova’s disassociative "blanks" are an issue, but the bigger obstacle may be Tova’s refusal to face her problems. Alek grows increasingly worried about Tova, wondering if she might have a cognitive condition like Alzheimer’s, and he makes significant efforts to find a specialist who will see Tova, which drives a lot of the story’s momentum. The dialogue has flourishes of humor, thanks to the emphasis on character in the storytelling, but the situation grows more serious as Tova’s black-outs — and her defensiveness and denial about them — begin to interfere with her personality and her relationships, particularly with Alek.
As Tova, Weinberger is markedly lively and spirited, which makes the erraticness of her "blanks" all the more ominous. Actor Nayib Felix is the film’s emotional center, as his love for Tova propels him to confront her and get her help, even when she pushes him away. The first two-thirds of BLANK traces this push-pull between the couple, but as Alek and Tova finally pin down answers, something more ominous emerges, shifting the register of the film into more sinister, suspenseful territory. As Tova’s outlook darkens, so does the film, leading viewers into a darkly propulsive ending.
