A Brief Affair

Frustrated with her life and overwhelmed by everyday routine, Lea has a chance encounter with Rocco at a local bar. The two strangers quickly feel very attracted to one another, which soon transforms into an intensive love affair that both of them keep in secret. Their relationship is based on a set of simple rules: no obligations, no prying into the other’s private life, and meetings only in hotel rooms that offer anonymity. As time goes by, emotions slowly spin out of control. Lea finds herself more and more committed to the affair that was supposed to be only superficial. What started as a fascination is now a fully blown obsession. She starts to follow Rocco, visit him uninvited at work, and interfere into his family life. What promised to be a harmless detachment from reality now creates tensions and hazards. Deeply hidden secrets start to surface and the consequences of their affair now also affect the people who were completely unaware it existed. In her directing début, Ludovica Rampoldi touches on the subject of fragile relationships and the unpredictability of human relations. Refraining from unequivocal judgements, she creates an intimate and disturbing panorama of love, betrayal, and limits that get broken easily.