Sadly, after a new film in consecutive years, 2019 was devoid of a new feature film from acclaimed filmmaker Luca Guadagnino. Since 2017’s “Call Me By Your Name” and 2018’s “Suspiria,” fans have been anxiously awaiting what the director has up his sleeve next. But thankfully, even though this year didn’t bring a new feature, Guadagnino did release a short film, titled “The Staggering Girl,” and it will finally be making its way to the streaming service MUBI in a short time.
“The Staggering Girl” isn’t your typical short film. The genesis of the project comes from a collaboration between the filmmaker and designer Pierpaolo Piccioli, who works with Valentino. A combination of touching short film, as well as an unabashed ad (though the filmmaker says it’s not) for Valentino’s fashion, “The Staggering Girl” tells the story of a woman that must go to Rome to care for her aging mother.
The short film is directed by Guadagnino, based on a script by Michael Mitnick. Mitnick is probably best known for his film work, on projects such as “The Giver” and “The Current War.” “The Staggering Girl” stars Julianne Moore, Mia Goth, KiKi Layne, Kyle MacLachlan, Marthe Keller, and Alba Rohrwacher.
We were lucky enough to check out the short while attending the Cannes Film Festival. In our review, we said the short is “an aesthetically rich, yet semiotically empty ode to Valentino couture. Guadagnino may have insisted that ‘The Staggering Girl’ is not an ad. Sadly, it’s about as close to pure commercialism as cinema can get without fitting into the MCU.”
Though we may not be as high on the film like others, fans from all around the world will get the chance to check out “The Staggering Girl” when it debuts on MUBI on February 15, 2020.