Sometimes, cinema must shatter the comfort zone of viewers who seek explanations too easily accepted. Remaining in the framework of a social critique, the short film ‘She Was‘ starts from the issue of femicide, tackling the way how reality is collectively filtered and reinterpreted. Rather than turning tragedy into a case to be solved, with a “spectacular” resolution in the classic detective tradition, director Abril Andrea Arnauda Appel chooses to examine the social reflex of quickly fitting events into an acceptable logic. At the core of this approach lies a subtle tension between what is officially stated and what remains concealed, between the convenient and the uncomfortable version. In this way, the short film becomes a lucid observation of how certain lives are simplified to the point of losing their deeper meaning.
A young student far from home finds herself caught in a demanding academic environment, defined by cultural barriers and constant pressure. Her death is initially framed within a familiar pattern, supported by a series of external factors that provide a quick and seemingly coherent explanation. Yet this version is undermined by the protagonist’s own perspective, who rewrites the event from a space that exists beyond the conventions of reality.
Refusing to turn this revelation into a game of clues, the director proposes a rupture of meaning in which the two interpretations coexist without reconciliation, leaving the viewer suspended between them. In doing so, Abril Andrea Arnauda Appel constructs her cinematic discourse with near-geometric precision, where every visual choice reinforces the central idea. More than a stylistic device, the contrast between black-and-white and colour functions as a system of meaning, separating two modes of perceiving the same reality. With boldness supported by a confident mastering of cinematic language, the director challenges the constraints of a strictly hyper-realistic vision. The austere, almost impersonal imagery is thus counterbalanced by sequences in which subjectivity gains warmth and substance within a complex fictional universe that is written and rewritten beyond the limits of perceptible reality. Ultimately, the film stands as a necessary cinematic gesture, asserting its strength through the consistency of its core idea: reality is not only what is seen, but also what is chosen to be ignored. Thus, ‘She Was’ becomes a statement deeply attuned to our times, seeking to provoke through the sharp lucidity with which it reflects the disquietness of the contemporary world.
