18 Presents

18 Presents (2020) 

Written and Directed by: Francesco Amato
Streaming on Netflix. 

It's one of the best film ideas I have ever come across. Anna, a rebellious teenager whose mother, Elisa, died at child birth, gets to time travel and be with her mother and father when her mother was pregnant. Anna knows that Elisa is her mother, but Elisa doesn't know that she's her daughter. And a beautiful friendship is formed between them. Of course, initially there's friction because Anna is a stranger. But eventually a beautiful friendship is formed between the both of them. I was wondering that perhaps this is the only way a child could match up to the love of a mother. If the mother loves the kid, without knowing that the kid is her own child, whereas the kid knows that it's their mother. There is a terrific scene where Elisa slaps Anna, and Anna says that she couldn't focus on work because her mother (who Elisa thinks is someone else) is sick. And Elisa empathizes with her. Only if she knew that she was her own child. 

The film is beautiful by itself, it made me cry. But since the idea was so terrific, I had different scenarios forming in my head. What didn't work for me as much was about how they just tease the idea of Elisa getting to know that Anna is her daughter. And later how they explain the whole time travel setting, vaguely as if they both interacted with each other in their respective dreams. This part was slightly off, but I let it be because this film anyway uses the fantasy element to tell a very emotional, human story. So it didn't bother me as much. The climax ripped me apart. Elisa writes a letter to Anna, before her pregnancy. She has some instinct that she doesn't have it in her to make it beyond the delivery. She asks for a pen and paper, writes a letter, sighs and finally says, I'm ready now. To give life to her daughter. I love how they visually end the film, with the whole swimming pool match cutting with the baby. I really enjoyed the emotional energy of the film.