Duplicitous Minds is written and directed by Robert Rippberger. The seventeen-minute short film tells the story of the deceitful exploits of three unnamed characters, The Magician (Matthew Palumbo), his assistant (Catalina Yue), and The Artist (Rob LaColla Jr.). An ominous monologue opens up the film, hinting at the deceptive nature of what’s to come. While performing a show, The Magician is heckled by The Artist. After the performance, The Artist goes backstage and blackmails The Magician to steal for him, or The Artist will give up video footage of a previous heist. The Magician agrees, but little does The Artist know what he has gotten himself into.
The film is propelled by Palumbo’s charisma. His performance as a two-faced magician was charming and captivating. On the supporting side, Rob Lacolla Jr. brings a sense of realism to a generically written antagonist. There is no significant motivation or behavior included to elevate the character of The Artist, but LaColla Jr. does a good job of making his scenes very digestible. Catalina Yue rounds out the main trio with a satisfactory performance as the overlooked assistant.
The standout scene is The Magician’s show, in which he performs a trick that involves him switching the locations of the queen of hearts and the ace of spades. The spotlight in combination with the bright red curtains and the sparkles in his costume create a visually striking sequence. The trick cleverly foretells the duplicity of its performers. Palumbo thrives as the charismatic magic man, fending off the suspicions of The Artist posing as a skeptical audience member. This part does the heavy lifting to establish the dynamic of the main trio of characters, which is crucial, otherwise the subversive nature of the film would not be as impactful.
Rippberger introduces a subplot featuring a suspect in custody (Chris Wadhams) being interrogated by two police officers (Jason Fay, Arap Bethke). He is shown video footage of himself confessing to the theft but claims to have no memory of said confession. While it is unclear if the suspect fell victim to the mysterious abilities of The Magician or the technological exploits of The Artist, it introduces a fascinating side story that would have benefitted from further exploration.
The simple story of deception is layered with metaphors. From the Hamlet reference in the opening monologue to the Alice in Wonderland connection through the Queen of Hearts, Rippberger takes a throw it at the wall and see what sticks approach to foreshadowing. But this film is most interesting when it utilizes its most basic premise: magic. Structuring the film in the form of a magic trick, echoing the likes of Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige (2006), creates a space to subvert expectations. The key to understanding the trick lies with The Assistant. In both the magic trick and the scheme, The Artist overlooks her ability and importance. This importance is partially undermined by the fact that her character is barely involved except for being the love interest of The Magician. Yue was not given a chance to explore the character with the same depth as the male leads. While the seemingly surface-level nature does add an element of mystery and surprise, some additional work for her character would have made for an even more satisfactory conclusion.
Duplicitous Minds is a film that takes multiple viewings to appreciate the various layers of its character's schemes. While about as coherent as can be expected from a complex plot in this limited runtime, the groundwork is there for an enthralling story. I look forward to the future endeavors of Rippberger’s conniving characters.
Duplicitous Minds is set to play at the New Jersey Film Festival as part of the “Shorts Program #2” on Friday, February 3. The films will be Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 7PM in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ.
To buy tickets go here.
For General Info on the Film Festival go here: https://newjerseyfilmfestivalspring2023.eventive.org/welcome
