Hollywood, CA (The Hollywood Times) 8/10/26 – Sometimes the simplest family rituals carry the most emotional weight. In writer-director Francesco Aram Zenati’s short film Chi Mangia Solo, a shared meal becomes the setting for two siblings to confront grief, memory and the distance that has grown between them.
Starring Victoria Pedretti and Philip Ettinger, the roughly 15-minute family drama follows an estranged brother and sister spending one final night in their childhood home before it is sold. As they prepare their late mother’s favorite recipe together, memories surface and feelings that have remained largely unspoken begin to emerge.
It is a deliberately quiet film, relying less on dramatic plot twists than on atmosphere, small gestures and the familiarity of cooking together. Pedretti and Ettinger give restrained performances that help make the sibling relationship feel lived-in, even when the film moves at an unhurried pace.
Food is really the emotional centerpiece of Chi Mangia Solo. Zenati draws on his own Italian-American background and family experiences, including the loss of his grandmother and the sale of her home in Verona. The title comes from an Italian family saying that translates roughly to the idea that one who eats alone ultimately dies alone, a reminder that meals are about much more than what is on the plate.
That personal connection gives the film its most affecting moments. Cooking becomes a way of remembering someone who is gone, while also giving the two siblings an opportunity to find their way back toward one another.
Visually, cinematographer Peter Pascucci gives the story an intimate, understated look, allowing the house, kitchen and preparation of the meal to become part of the emotional landscape.
Chi Mangia Solo has already screened at the Oscar-qualifying Provincetown International Film Festival and Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, and it is among the official selections for the 2026 HollyShorts Film Festival.
The film screens Sunday, August 16 at 10 p.m. at the TCL Chinese Theatre as part of the Family Drama program at HollyShorts.
Chi Mangia Solo may be modest in scope, but its message is universal: family memories have a way of staying with us, and sometimes something as ordinary as preparing a familiar recipe can briefly bring the past back to the table.
Director: Francesco Aram Zenati
Starring: Victoria Pedretti, Philip Ettinger
Cinematography: Peter Pascucci
Running Time: Approximately 15 minutes
Festival: HollyShorts Film Festival 2026
