Oliver & The Pool (Oliverio y la piscina) directed by Arcadi Palerm-Artis is likely to be one of the hidden gems of the deadCenter Film Festival this year. A gorgeously shot Spanish-language film with a star turn from young Alejandro Arean (who plays Oli), this indie film is an interesting exploration of grief and existence.
Poolside
Oli is at dinner with his mother (Mónica Huarte) and father (Jacobo Lieberman) when he learns they are separating. His mother has fallen for someone else. A moment later, his father collapses and dies, and Oli is left unmoored.
After the funeral, Oli takes his father’s urn, sits by the pool, and refuses to move. If you can die from an aneurysm at any moment, he reasons, then what’s the point of living at all? There’s certainly no reason to go to school.
His no-nonsense mother, meanwhile, tries to move on, doing little to connect with her frustrated son for most of the movie. She attempts to psychoanalyze him along with her new beau, a fellow therapist (César Troncoso). And they both worry Oli is being “sedentary.”
For how long?
A viewer might have similar concerns about the static nature of the film, which unfortunately does back itself into the restriction of following a young character who does nothing but sit beside a pool.
There are many attempts to conjure new drama, including the mother’s brief fight against some household pests and a disconnected subplot about the family’s housekeeper, Rosita. Oli’s uncle, his father’s identical twin, is also around. The threads are brief and add little conflict or color to the overall story.
Tonally, the movie leans more toward fanciful and comedic. For a movie with a young lead, this works fine, but there are also somewhat confusing and inconsistent dream sequences. These feature childlike imagery and seem a bit out of place for what the film is ultimately trying to accomplish.
The story struggles to sustain itself, so ends up petering out with no real resolution. Oli simply decides one day that he’s ready to go back to school, and his mother decides she’s done with her boyfriend. No big revelations or moments of human connection, which feels a bit disappointing.
Diving in
There’s so much potential here, but one wishes the film had found a slightly more cohesive message about humanity, grief, and love, instead of showing us a series of choppy subplots with a letdown of a finale.
It’s an unfair comparison, but movies like Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World or Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain from Jean-Pierre Jeunet gave us poignant looks at life and love. This was regardless of how many subplots or flights of fancy each film contained. So we know it’s possible, and I wish this film had gotten there too.
As mentioned, Oliver & The Pool looks beautiful and takes full advantage of its gorgeous location, a modern home amid dense greenery. The premise, while it could have been pushed further, is perfect for a small production, and the entire cast turns in strong performances.
Oliver & The Pool screens Sunday, June 12, at 8:40 PM in Harkins Bricktown at the deadCenter Film Festival.
