(VOD) TITO is a scrappy and rough film that seems at odds with Amazon Prime’s library, but who am I to argue?
It’s a difficult film to describe, but: Tito is a person trying to live their own young life, fearful of much — as evidenced by the hunch on their back caused by endless peering and cowering as well as the orange ‘emergency’ whistle hanging around their neck — but still has appetites. Someone else enters their life, feeds them, latches onto them, and everything cascades from there.
Written and directed by Grace Glowicki, it’s an audacious character study that at times reminded me of TETSUO: THE IRON MAN, mostly because of its severe sound design and outsider character — not because there’s any aggressive cyborg action in it — but also because it’s a prolonged experimental look at a someone very damaged trying to cope with what’s been forced upon them.
In case I haven’t been clear: this is not a fun watch. That said, Glowicki’s execution perfectly nails what the film means to accomplish. (I didn’t realize it was Kickstarted until writing this post, but the Kickstarter pitch lays out exactly what Grace wanted to do with the film and, well, mission accomplished. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/449341300/tito-feature-film)