Likemeback

Airing times

In Conversation: Leonardo Guerra Seràgnoli on Likemeback

The Dark Side of the Selfie: How Social Media Shapes the Way We See Ourselves

Likemeback (Likemeback, 2018)
Italy

Director: Leonardo Guerra Seràgnoli
Cast: Denise Tantucci, Angela Fontana, Blu Yoshimi
Genre: Drama
Length: 77’

Presentation:

Three girls set sail for freedom beneath a blazing summer sun, but as their laughter drifts across the sea, the line between friendship, truth, and performance begins to blur in ways none of them could have imagined. Eurochannel premieres Likemeback.

Likemeback is a hauntingly intimate glimpse into the fragile, hyper-connected world of modern youth. Directed by Leonardo Guerra Seràgnoli, the film captures that fleeting moment between adolescence and adulthood, when freedom feels infinite but identity remains uncertain. Set against the sun-drenched backdrop of the Croatian coast, it tells the story of three young women—Lavinia, Carla, and Danila—who set sail on a summer voyage that promises liberation, laughter, and friendship, only to discover that the open sea has its own quiet ways of unraveling secrets.

At first, their journey is idyllic. The yacht becomes a floating sanctuary where rules dissolve and the world beyond the horizon seems to fade. With smartphones always in hand, the girls record every smile, every pose, every shimmering reflection of their carefree days. Yet beneath the filtered glow of their online lives, something darker begins to surface. The line between sharing and exposing, between confidence and performance, starts to blur. What begins as a celebration of friendship slowly turns into an examination of how easily intimacy can fracture under the gaze of social media.

The film’s brilliance lies in its restraint. Seràgnoli never resorts to heavy-handed drama; instead, he builds unease from quiet gestures and silences. A phone lost at sea becomes more than an inconvenience—it becomes a symbol of disconnection, of the unsettling realization that one’s existence online can vanish in an instant. Within the confined space of the yacht, emotions tighten and distort. Jealousy flickers. Trust erodes. The sea, vast and indifferent, mirrors the distance growing between them.

What makes Likemeback resonate is its unflinching honesty about the contradictions of digital intimacy. The girls curate their lives for an invisible audience, yet their real selves remain elusive even to one another. The camera lingers not on grand events, but on glances, pauses, and the quiet ache of being misunderstood. Each character embodies a different facet of modern self-presentation—confidence, vulnerability, detachment—and together they form a portrait of a generation suspended between authenticity and illusion.

Visually luminous and emotionally raw, Likemeback invites viewers to look beyond the glossy veneer of connection and confront the loneliness that often hides beneath it. It’s a film that doesn’t shout its message but leaves it rippling quietly long after the credits roll. A story of friendship, exposure, and the elusive search for self, it captures the uneasy beauty of growing up in a world that never stops watching.

Synopsis:
Three young women embark on a summer boat trip along the Mediterranean coast, but a social media scandal soon tests their friendship.

Awards and festivals:
Locarno Film Festival 2018 - Nominee - Golden Leopard - Filmmakers of the Present

Airing times