Divertimento

It was an honor to screen this amazing film at the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival. Director / writer Keyvan Sheikhalishahi is extremely talented and I'm positive we will see many more wonderful projects from him! If you get a chance to watch this short film, be sure you do! You won't be disappointed.

It doesn't feel like an indie movie, yet it's indie. It doesn't have all the tropes of a blockbuster, yet it feels like a blockbuster. It's not a short film, but not a feature either. Well, it's 'Divertimento' and it's crazy and massive and you should watch it, 'cause there is something here... very special.

Loved how the story is intellectual, and makes the moviegoer clearly work, and think, to bring it all together. Filled with plot twists and turns, it takes you on a psychological roller coaster ride from start to finish. Several questions are raised throughout and you think you know what's happening, what's true or false, until the end, which gives an answer to all the questions and is totally unexpected. But the movie is also pure entertainment, with a beautiful location, a mysterious mood and a brilliant cast. Not to forget the tension and the action, very creative.

A surprising film which doesn't let you indifferent. What you feel at the end is that this film is special, probably a masterpiece.

What you quickly notice about this thirty-minute movie is that it has all the trappings of sophisticated big-budget international thriller. It's set in a real 18th-century French château. The characters are elegant in formalwear and have arrived for an evening of mysteriously sophisticated games. The plot is just complex enough to keep us intrigued though also a bit confused. The leads (Kellan Lutz and Torrey DeVitto, familiar from US television) are drop-dead gorgeous. Swedish actor Ola Rapace and German actor Götz Otto are on hand as potential villains. Both are veterans of the James Bond movies, and that's clearly no coincidence, as this flick has a definite 007 vibe. During a tense chess match, we can easily imagine Rapace as Le Chiffre in Casino Royale. This isn't a straightforward thriller, though. As the story progresses, funny things happen with time and memory. In addition to the chess match, there is alternatively some kind of elaborate murder mystery evening going on, and we get intimations that there is another obscure level entirely to the action. Sure enough, by the end there is a twist worthy of a classic Twilight Zone episode. The film is quite well made - especially when you take into account that it's only the third movie by this filmmaker (Keyvan Sheikhalishahi, based in Paris) and that it was made when he was 21.

Don't miss this classy, smart psychological thriller. From the casting (Kellan Lutz, Brittany Gonzalas, Gotz Otto) to the gorgeous set to the unique mysterious plot-this is a fantastic short from Keyvan Sheik. I was thrilled to interview him for the Black Hills Film Festival. His eye and discernment are marking him for major success in directing.

A film that has the look of a major studio. The cast is of the highest caliber, the location is gorgeous and the story is engaging and compelling. Really great work from a director with a clear vision.