The synopsis for A Brief Affair promises an outing that combines “romance, comedy and thriller” while exploring the “complexity of relationships, love and passion through the unexpected twists of this fling turned love story”. So I settled in, expecting to be taken through an exhilarating ride through an affair gone awry.
We are introduced to the sport of chessboxing – where competitors alternate between playing chess and duking it out in the boxing ring. Rocco, played by a broodingly handsome Adriano Giannini, has just finished a session and has made his way to the local bar. It is during this routine pitstop for ice for his wounds that he meets Lea, a random stranger at the bar. The encounter results in Rocco driving a mildly intoxicated Lea home, so that she can avoid being pulled over by the cops.
We think that’s the end of it, until a few days later when Lea runs into Rocco. She tells him that she was looking for him, which somehow ends up with them checking into a hotel room.
I’m unenthused about this first hookup for one reason – there’s no obvious chemistry. There is no passionate embrace that leads them to affirmatively tell us they need the hotel room. This is reinforced moments later where they’re sitting on opposite ends of the bed’s metal frame, awkwardly waiting for the other to make a move. They eventually get there and it’s hard to believe this will go any further.
But despite the weak appearances, it does.
I don’t think the lack of chemistry is necessarily the fault of the actors’ portrayals; rather it is because of the script they’re forced to follow. There are moments throughout the movie that, in isolation, read as tender, but for the most part, I don’t feel any attraction between the two characters, despite how attractive each actor is.
As the film progresses, Lea appears to take an increasing interest in Rocco’s life beyond the hotel hookups. This includes his wife, Cecilia. From booking in a consultation with her to running into her at the shooting range, it leans into stalker territory.
While Lea’s behaviour does raise suspicions, they are hesitant ones because we don’t quite understand what is driving her to be so invasive. There are no specific “obsessive stalker” tropes for the audience to go by.
Lea and Rocco might enjoy their time with each other but there don’t seem to be any fireworks between the pair. It’s not even a one-sided affair where one party is more invested than the other – Lea does not appear to be drunk on lust. Their dynamic borders on being a fling of convenience.
Rocco has a rule – that a third encounter flags that a fling has now progressed into a relationship. Yet both seem content to carry it forward, without any labels. Rocco does not display any dissatisfaction in his marriage so we know we can’t rely on him to call her his girlfriend. We do know that Lea is insecure about her relationship with her partner; you would think she would cling to any bit of Rocco’s attention she can get. Yet, in her moments away from him, she doesn’t love bomb him. She goes about her life as per normal, working as a journalist while maintaining her family life.
So while it is strange that she is watching from afar at Rocco’s friends’ wedding, we don’t quite get the motivation for her being there. This discordant plot saw me willing something, anything, to add some spice to a dragging first hour.
There’s nothing to truly justify Lea’s actions in that first hour of the movie, not even a convincing red herring. It’s a shame because if the characters were just pushed a little bit more, the tension could have been heightened without causing too much chaos to the storyline.
Lea might talk about her insecurity but her actions don’t match her mental state. Andrea, Lea’s partner, seems mostly harmless. He has an obnoxious obsession with foreign words that have no single-word equivalent in Italian but beyond that, there aren’t any obvious red flags. There’s an especially endearing scene where they play happy family with their daughter – so why would Lea continue her affair with Rocco, let alone stalk his wife?
Cecilia offers nothing either – her marriage to Rocco seems harmonious. While it does not have the passion of youth, it offers the steadiness of a longstanding union. She isn’t given reason to suspect Rocco’s infidelity. Cecilia is never framed as a scorned wife or even a neglectful one.
We find some explanation in a pivotal moment that comes in the last half hour of the movie. However, it is a case of too little too late.
The movie, for the most part, is less suspenseful than it is voyeuristic. While some scenes feature greyish colour palettes and extra shadows, we don’t really feel the sense of impending doom a thriller would normally impart. We are lulled into drifting along to the beat of the characters’ extramarital affair.
Consequently, the only real moment that delivers on the thriller aspect is that one pivotal moment. It amps up the suspense but it fizzles out, leading the movie into a conclusion that feels like an aside rather than a resolution.
So while A Brief Affair offers a fresh perspective on the love triangle narrative, it takes so long to reach boiling point that I almost lost interest in the tea.
A Brief Affair is showing as part of the 2026 ST. ALi Italian Film Festival until 17th October.