Céline Roustan
Pia is meeting her boyfriend’s parents for the first time. When she arrives at their house, everything seems perfect: her boyfriend is excited about the weekend, his mother is warm and welcoming – but his dad quickly becomes a little too comfortable. Allegra Leguizamo, already featured on S/W for her work in front of the camera in Lockdown and Scotty’s Vag, makes her directorial debut with Flash Warning, a film that explores the gray areas of sexual assault through a poignant situation which mounts to a snappy and satisfying ending.
“Growing up in New York, you’re exposed to a lot, literally, from a young age and I wanted to capture the assortment of feelings these instances of grey area assault can stir up”, Leguizamo explained when discussing her inspiration for the screenplay. While she pushes the concept, the emotional core of the story is sadly quite relatable, from the event itself to how it affects everyone involved.
As well as writing and directing Flash Warning, Leguizamo also stars in the lead role.
As writer and director, Leguizamo structures her narrative to follow the her protagonist’s journey as she comes to terms with what happened: the initial shock, the creeping denial and doubt, and the confrontation with other people’s reactions. The filmmakers wraps her storyline with a satisfying, empowering and very bloody ending for our delight! We are so used to people turning a blind eye, that seeing her reclaim her self agency feels all the more powerful.
Over the film’s nine-minute runtime, we watch Pia navigating the shifting power dynamics she has with her boyfriend’s family, isolated with them inside their house. From the mother’s quiet complicity to her own boyfriend’s gaslighting, the writing is subtle and pushes Pia into doubt and discomfort. As that tension builds, BLKMKT’s score and editor Simone Woronoff’s pacing enhances that threatening atmosphere.
Visually, there’s a stark contract between the narrative tone and the images. While Pia’s experience grows darker, the color palette echoes how “normal” these incidents are in our society. The production design makes the location feel warm and welcoming yet as the film moves forward, DP Sharon Pulwer starts to isolate Pia within the frame – visually emphasizing her discomfort and lack of safety to create an unsettling feeling.
Flash Warning builds to an unforgettable ending
Leguizamo, who also stars as Pia in Flash Warning, gives a quite remarkable performance. She takes her character on the aforementioned emotional journey with a striking authenticity as she starts feeling betrayed by her boyfriend, disappointed by his mother and unsafe with the father. August Blanco, the boyfriend, is also impressive as he gives a very compelling class on how to effectively gaslight your girlfriend.
Ahead of its online debut, Flash Warning had its World Premiere at the Miami Film Festival before continuing its run on the festival circuit. While Leguizamo’s career in front of the camera continues to gain momentum, she is also developing a new short film as a director, signaling an exciting next chapter behind the lens as well.