Press reviews for „Starfuckers“ by Antonio Marziale.
„This audacious erotic thriller that takes a turn for the abstract, “Starfuckers” takes direct aim at Hollywood itself, following a gay man who abuses his power by promising the world to aspiring young actors. Sweet-faced Cole Doman (star of Stephen Cone’s “Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party”) plays a faux-innocent escort who conspires with a friend, played by the film’s writer and director Antonio Marziale. Queer audiences will recognize Marziale from the cult web series “The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo” and “Alex Strangelove,” though his own foray into filmmaking is decidedly darker.“
review by Jude Dry for Indiewire
„Die Mischung von queerer Verletzlichkeit und beat poetry in „Starfuckers“ erweist sich als modernes, mitreißendes Kino. Zwei junge Sexarbeiter rächen sich an einem Hollywood- Freier, der ihnen leere Versprechungen gemacht hat, indem sie ihn zu Hause überwältigen und fesseln. Dann konfrontieren sie ihn mit einem Tanz plus Lip-Sync-Einlage. Regisseur Antonio Marziale spielt bei dieser zwischen Camp und Tragik angesiedelten Protestshow selbst einen der beiden Performer.“
review by Hanno Rehlinder for Der Tagesspiegel
„Starfuckers, directed and written by Antonio Marziale who also is in the cast for this 14-minute narrative thriller, works very well even though Marziale deliberately leaves out pretty much the backstory of any of three characters. But, the story outline is clear and absorbing about the power dance that puts men of enormous status and privilege and queer individuals who do not follow traditional paths or concepts of masculinity and see the fluidity of identity as a means of challenging the primary access to peer that those with status and privilege have abused.“
article by Les Roka for The Utah Review
„“Starfuckers” stars Brooklyn-based actor Cole Doman (“Uncle Frank,” “Law & Order: SVU”) and L.A.-based actor and director Antonio Marziale (“Alex Strangelove”). It is one of the best projects at this year’s festival, as it follows a revenge plot of two young actors that becomes more surreal as it unspools.“
article by Joshua Encinitas for BROOKLYN
„Antonio Marziale’s fantastic short film Starfuckers takes place in a Hollywood villa. There, an escort and his accomplice turn the tables on the film director customer, who promised to make him a star. It’s a uniquely playful revenge movie of the queer kind that wrestles with the film industry’s endemic issues and by flipping the power dynamics through a drag lip-synch that is one of the most memorable in the Shorts programme this year, manages to comment on the #MeToo era – and the abuse of privilege in a broader sense – in an empowering way“
review by David Mouriquand for Exberliner
„Antonio Marziale […] makes an impressive debut as a writer-director with his short film Starfuckers, which premiered at Sundance and is currently playing at the Berlinale.“
review and interview with Antonio Marziale by James Kleinmann for The Queer Review
„Writer-director Antonio Marziale gives an electrifying drag performance that builds to a gripping and powerfully moving climax in this audacious queer revenge thriller tackling the abuse of power in Hollywood […]. Doman brings an emotional vulnerability to the role, allowing us to see flickers of the steeliness behind his character’s submissive demeanor, and there’s a wonderfully charged chemistry between Doman and Marziale as they pull off a thrilling stunt. With a confronting, darkly comic tone that put me in mind of Michael Haneke’s Funny Games, cinematographer Matthew Potheir creates a sense of voyeuristic intimacy which shifts along with the power dynamics as the film progresses, while composers James William Blades and Taul Katz help maintain an uneasy tension with their eerie, beautifully erratic score. An impressive directing debut that’s as arresting and bold as its title.“
review by James Kleinmann for The Queer Review
„Starfuckers is one of the best selections at this year’s festival. The story follows two twinks out for revenge on a Hollywood executive; it only grows more surreal as it progresses. Directed and written by Antonio Marziale, who co-stars with Cole Doman, the latter plays an escort for a Hollywood executive who has a school-boy kink with a twist. When Marziale’s character sneaks into the executive’s house, a night of fun becomes a nightmare. The two drug him, and when he wakes up they perform a ritualistic act of revenge. Starfuckers implies the executive tricked the duo into exchanging their dignity for access, but their performance shows the depth of their humanity.
review by Josh E. for The Film Stage
„This American effort from Antonio Marziale, showing two gay men getting revenge on a Hollywood paedophile in the strangest fashion imaginable, is both a sniper kill to the industry’s hypocritical head and a truly wild ride; two fascinating contradictions held in tandem by the final shot.“
review by Redmond Bacon for Directors Notes
„What the title accomplishes in a split second, the short film spends 14 minutes capitalizing on. In an eccentric journey over the course of a bizarre evening, Starfuckers exposes audiences – or perhaps more befittingly, treats audiences – to a spectacle worthy of a spotlight. And at a festival showcasing promising upcoming talent, writer, director, and actor Antonio Marziale steals the show.“
article by Thomas Stoneham-judge for Forreel
„The best of those, Antonio Marziale’s Starfuckers, is a genuinely surprising one-set movie; in this case, a high-in-the-LA-hills mansion, where a film producer hosts a call boy (Cole Doman, co-story writer). It’s accurate to say that Marziale (who also co-stars) “tackles pedophilia in Hollywood,” but that makes the short sound more dully virtuous or upsetting than it is.“
review by Vadim Rizov for Filmmaker Magazine
„Zwischen Kund*in und Sexarbeiter*in herrscht ein augenscheinlich klares Gefälle: Der*die Sexarbeiter*in agiert als Dienstleister*in und erfüllt dem*der Kund*in alle Wünsche. Dass dieses vermeintliche Machtverhältnis missbraucht und ausgenutzt wird, lesen wir leider immer wieder. Der Film „Starfuckers„ spielt in einer Hollywood-Villa und zeigt, was passiert, wenn jenes Machtgefüge überworfen wird. Es entsteht ein packender, queerer Revenge-Film.“
review by Wiebke Jann for Mit Vergnügen
„Y por último ‚Starfuckers‘, de Antonio Marziale, el que es quizás mi cortometraje favorito de esta 72° edición. Por un lado, su impecable producción, sus perfectas interpretaciones. Por otro, sus reminiscencias a la obra de Lynch, que se combinan con la inspiración sacada de las actuaciones de las drag queens y la admiración del director por la sincronización de labios.“
review by Aina Riu for El Séptimo Arte
„Starfuckers est un récit aussi riche qu’imprévisible. Est-ce un film sur de brutales dynamiques de pouvoir ou bien un jeu de rôles ambigu ? Le cinéaste se sert avec intelligence du drag pour brouiller les pistes de manière stimulante.“
review for Le Polyester
„Regelrecht hinweggefegt wird sämtliche Ruhe und Geborgenheit durch den Kurzfilm „Starfuckers“ von Antonio Marziale. Dieser wirft anhand drei namensloser Figuren einen Blick in die Machtdynamiken Hollywoods. Spätestens wenn das anfängliche Machtverhältnis seine kompromisslose Wendung vollzieht, zeigt sich der viertelstündige Kurzfilm als äußerst ausdrucksstark und aufwühlend. Dann wohnen dem Drama mit einem Mal deutliche Thrillerelemente bei, während es zur überstillisierten Auseinandersetzung mit Ausbeutungsverhältnissen kommt und symbolhaft eine ganze Branche gefesselt ist zuzusehen. Intensiv zieht sich der Strudel der Geschehnisse zusammen und wirkt auch etliche Zeit nach Beendigung des Kurzfilms nach.“
review by Paul Seidel for Riecks Filmkritiken
„In den meisten Filmen geht es um starke gesellschaftliche Belange. […] Auch das queere Kino war mit wenigen Filmen vertreten. „Starfuckers“, ein Rachedrama, stach genauso raus, wie der wortlose „Exalted Mars“, der mit dem Teddy Award ausgezeichnet wurde.“
mention by Doreen Matthei for Testkammer
find updates on „Starfuckers“ on letterboxd
Find interviews with the director here.
Photo © Dorothea Tuch
Berlinale Shorts 