Plucked right before its NYC premiere at the ND/NF Fest, IFC Films have made the pick up of Alexis Dos Santos oddly shaped rom drama/coming-of-age film that features a loaded soundtrack of tunes from an array of artists. I felt that Unmade Beds “desperately tries to impart that familiar feeling of being befriended and socially accepted among strangers, but it is a lack of maturity, not from the filmmaker but the script itself that makes UB a visual commentary on the lifestyle, rather than a film where characters converge, narratives get thicker, and where results don’t come across as haphazard, but instead, well sewn together.” (read my review here). The picture stars the Dardenne bros. discovery Déborah Francois (l’enfant) and Devil’s Backbone‘s Fernando Tielve.
Unmade Beds tells the story of Axl and Vera, two young expats who take up residence in a vibrant, sprawling squat in the melting-pot of London’s hip East End. Axl wants to find his long-lost father and rediscover his past. Vera just wants to forget hers and move on from recent heartbreak. Learning his father is a realtor, Axl pretends to be a student looking for an apartment. But the more he discovers about his father’s new life, the more difficult it is for Axl to admit who he really is. Meanwhile, Vera embarks on a tentative romance with a charismatic stranger. To protect herself from further heartbreak, she insists on total anonymity – but becomes the victim of her own strategy when she finds herself falling in love.
At this point IFC don’t know if they will release the feature in theaters or send it directly to their Festival Direct platform. I’m guessing its going the VOD route.
