Review: It Felt Like Love

Directed by: Eliza Hittman

Written by: Eliza Hittman

Starring: Gina Piersanti, Giovanna Salimeni, Ronen Rubinstein, Jesse Cordasco, Nicolas Rosen

Rating: [3.5/5]

Through adolescence, sexual experience somehow converts into social equity depending on the circles one runs with where teens get in such a rush to prove themselves as sexual beings even if putting themselves in compromising positions. From the outside it looks horrifying but on the inside, as displayed in It Felt Like Love this only gets worse. Incredibly raw and cutting right to the bone, this film digs into some terrifying truths. 

Right in the midst of puberty at the age of 14, Lila (Gina Piersanti) wants to be sexually active like her friend Chiara (Giovanna Salimeni) who gets involved with boys. Desperate to gain a similar experience because of what social standing it provides her, she begins hanging out with an older boy named Sammy (Ronen Rubinstein) who’s nothing but trouble but she knows will probably give her what she wants. 

With as heartbreaking of a title as this one and the topic surrounding sex, you just know we’re going to receive a haymaker here. One that delves deep into the insecurities of this character regarding this topic, and this feature goes in places meant to disturb and terrify as we see this 14-year-old engage in activities she probably should not with company not operating in her best interest. It also does help that we have Eliza Hittman crafting this film from beginning to end even though it serves as her directorial debut; she proves here much like her later films, she knows how to dig into something so powerfully raw with regard to these young characters. We certainly get that here. 

Lila’s experience does not stray away from the one many teenagers, especially teenage girls, go through as they navigate the interpersonal and intrapersonal elements of puberty. Not only does one’s esteem go up and down like a rollercoaster, it increasingly remains dependent on the opinion of others, and having sexual experience evidently proves to matter more than anything else. She sees this with Chiara and how she openly engages in public displays of affection with the boys she hooks up with around her. Something that proves quite uncomfortable to sit through as audience members, as it does for Lila. We’ve all been there and boy does it never feel worse in the teenage years because it compounds the awkwardness of third wheeling these situations with the little strains of jealousy. Lila wants to be in Chiara’s place, and the lengths she goes to in order to do this gets fairly frightening and may just trigger some. The palms of many will dampen as many nervous moments occur in this film where Hittman just lets this suspense build to a pulse-pounding degree where I could barely look in moments. 

This honest and raw approach sits right with what Eliza Hittman loves to capture with her films as she allows the camera to flow right with the characters in displaying their wholehearted emotions and their bodies. We feel this journey Lila goes on, whether through her perspective in the way she looks at the surrounding boys. Everything about this experience for her lies in her carnal pursuit of something that does not necessarily resemble love but will help her feel accomplished in her life. The camera movement very much concurs in how it displays how Lila looks at each person where their personality does not entirely matter but rather a means to an end as reality sets in for her. 

A firecracker of a debut that sets the stage for the unique presence of Eliza Hittman in the world of film, It Felt Like Love feels like a dagger through the heart and does a great job transporting us to a particular stage of adolescence. A phase many have escaped and hope to never have to experience again, with good reason. This film displays a time of utter confusion, insecurity, and a willingness to get oneself in terrible situations for the sake of something that means nothing in the grand scheme of things. Hittman just nails this overall feeling, and with her later films she further solidifies she has cornered the market on heart-wrenching teenage films set in New York that will dig a dagger right through your heart.