“Avetrana – This is not Hollywood” had already caused discussion when the poster was released, defined by many as being in bad taste, as was the operation itself. This series, directed by Pippo Mezzapesa, based on a book by Carmine Gazzanni and Flavia Piccinni, is yet another bow to the true crime genre, which has been so popular in the last two years. Presented at the Rome Film Festival for Disney+, released on the platform on October 25, this miniseries has two faces: the energy of the performances and direction is accompanied by a narcissism, an excess of manner that makes the whole operation awkward , really annoying at times.

“Avetrana – It’s not Hollywood here” – the plot

“Avetrana – This is not Hollywood” is one of those series made to divide, to provoke discussion, which feeds on controversy, knowing that this is the best possible press office. This is certainly not the place to discuss whether it was legitimate or right to talk about Sarah Scazzi through television series, but it is legitimate to ask questions about the chosen method and the result obtained and look at what Pippo Mezzapesa and the production achieved.

“Avetrana – This is not Hollywood” has a narrative structure that is only apparently classic, in the hybrid reality but which already highlights a certain basic inconsistency, with that continuous swaying back and forth, that attempt to outwit the public without a reason . Four episodes of around 66 minutes each to talk to us about Sarah Scazzi (Federica Pala), a teenager lost like many others in that suburb of Taranto where 14 years ago her disappearance and then the discovery of her body created one of the most memorable in the history of this country. Insecure, lacking in stimulation, with a terrible relationship with her mother Concetta (Imma Villa), a Jehovah’s Witness who torments her and takes away any possibility of emancipation, her only friend is her cousin Sabrina Misseri (Giulia Perulli). Her aunt Cosima (Vanessa Scalera) almost acted as her additional mother, but with her uncle Michele (Paolo De Vita) the relationship is much more difficult.

Life in Avetrana is boring, repetitive, that place is provincial and oppressive, poor and degraded. Sarah clings to Sabrina who often resents her, but together the two share dreams, hopes, as well as the company of Ivano (Gianmarco Commare), for whom Sabrina has a weakness. It will be precisely having revealed intimate details about Sabrina that will cost Sarah her life, overwhelmed by her cousin’s morbid jealousy, by the code of silence of a family that the series, without hesitation, shows us as a sort of crazy circle made of resentment, anger, insensitivity, psychological violence and degradation.

Mixing reality and fiction, with Antonio Gerardi in the role of Marshal Persichella, “Avetrana – Qui è non Hollywood” immediately starts with the accelerator, embracing an atmosphere that is oppressive from the first minute, which seeks tension with an almost fanatical determination , insatiable. Giuseppe Maio’s photography is beautiful, he knows how to make us almost feel the suffocating heat, makes the interiors an almost oppressive and dystopian prison, elevates the direction of Mezzapesa, certainly the best thing about this miniseries. But it is in the atmosphere, in the choice of acting register, in the vision that goes from partial to insufficient, at times almost trivializing in constantly seeking the dramatic effect and in ultimately dehumanizing its protagonists.

A very clever series but it doesn’t offer much

“Avetrana – This isn’t Hollywood” after the first episode erases all uncertainty, which is strange because in theory it should be aimed at a general audience, therefore international, one that perhaps knows nothing about the story, the trial which ended with life imprisonment for Sabrina Misseri and Cosima Spagnolo. Instead, already at the beginning of the second episode everything is suggested, or rather, everything is made clear to the public, which already makes us understand that the identity of the series is uncertain, given the completely different approach that the Italian public will have, who are looking for the details of what he already knows, and that foreigner, who instead cannot know anything about a crime that kept Italy glued to the television like never before. Then we move on to characterization and it is then that, despite the excellent quality make-up and the physical transformation of the performers, the series takes a very bad turn. Everything is always, constantly, over the top, the various characters live in a state of eternal agitation, the acting style is somewhere between lugubrious and agitated, but all this is not compensated by a shred of naturalism, but by an unreal reign of fear which, however, never finds, in any situation, a crescendo capable of providing true emotions, a minimum of depth in the characters, who in reality remain practically the same for the entire duration of the series.

“Avetrana – This is not Hollywood” comes to us as the classic cheap commercial operation, where, apart from the direction and the workers, the audience is never truly involved, where the dialogues lead to nothing, where “the operation reality” is only a facade, destroyed by a search for effect, for the macabre, sometimes truly unmotivated. But that’s not necessary, we also understood this recently with “Monsters”, we understood it with “Dahmer” (both on Netflix and both much, much better than this one): television series has now aligned itself with crime news, he has recovered a shouty and sensationalist, itchy and merciless style. Sarah Scazzi’s crime remains an open wound in the minds of many, exemplifying the social and cultural degradation of Italy, of ourselves, of the hordes of tourists who besieged Avetrana, a horror tourism of which this series, devoid of true authorship, of something more than the homework, is a mere extension. It will naturally get its ratings, it will cause discussion, then it will disappear replaced by the next one, perhaps on the Cogne Crime, on Michele Profeta or who knows what else.

The public has always loved darkness, especially familiar ones, there is nothing wrong with this, but at least offer something more genuine and less predictable, at least try to learn what “Mindhunter” or “The Asunta Case” we were taught, this shouldn’t be too difficult.

Rating: 5