Film Review: Closure

"Closure" tells the story of two brothers, Adam (Kevin Austra) and Kyle (Eric Francis Melaragni) who reunite five years after the death of their parents, to try to understand the emotional mechanism of the other who faced the great tragedy of their family. The aggressive interaction between the two men forces their awareness of their own choices that have decisively influenced their destiny.

From the moment Adam enters Kyle’s house, one conflict leads to another, and the tension between the brothers increases to the point where they almost get physical. Just when things calm down, Austra throws in another plot twist. Shooting in one location only (Kyle’s house) could be a big challenge, let alone in a 20-minute film. Austra excels in using every part of the house cleverly, from the living room to the bathroom, each room reveals a new detail that makes things complicated for the brothers.

As the story progresses, we learn more and more about the family before and until the night of the tragedy, and the story gets a different turn.

One of the film's strengths is the duo performance. The story completely relies on two characters, and both Kevin Austra as Adam and Eric Francis Melaragni as Kyle give excellent performances. Far more than believable, both actors managed to create two complicated and intriguing characters that are ideal opposites who compliment each other, and therefore make the perfect duo.

Closure is a classic indie film that skillfully uses limited resources to tell a great story. We particularly appreciated the director’s decision to stay minimalistic - two characters, one location, zero music.

This brave decision helped us focus on the story itself, the characters and the deeper meaning of the film.