‘Beba’ Review: Rebeca Huntt’s Life May Be a Work in Progress, but Her Debut Shines Bright Like a Diamond
15.06.2022 - 02:17
/ variety.com
Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticHow many millennial cine-memoirs does the world need? I might have answered that question differently before “Beba.” As a generation of TikTok and Instagram users seek still more ways to overshare, it’s only a matter of time before we’re drowning in personal essay films. Having seen what Rachel Huntt can do with the format, however, I say, “Bring ’em on!” Her film gives me hope — if only her docu-inclined peers could have the same self-awareness and intuition when shaping their experience.An insightful, engaging and all-around affirmational auto-portrait from an Afro-Latina New Yorker with an ear for poetry and an eye for the ineffable, “Beba” never questions its own right to exist.
“You are now entering my universe. I am the lens, the subject, the authority,” she says at the outset, betraying a thoughtful, liberal-arts-college sensibility.
“I carry an ancient pain that I struggle to understand,” she continues, confronting head-on the angst she feels as a woman of color, knowing full well that those with the easiest access to microphones and cameras will accuse her of whining, of playing the victim. For a film like this to work, its creator can’t hide her flaws — which is saying something in a medium where movie stars so often do the opposite, insisting they be shot only from their flattering side or nixing scenes that make them seem weak.
By contrast, Huntt takes strength from sharing both the good and the bad about herself. Imperfections make her credible, as Huntt pushes herself to be as authentic as possible — some might say “raw,” though her sense of montage is far too refined for that.Also, let’s not kid ourselves: Beba, the version of herself that Huntt chooses to share, is movie
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