Dindin (2024) Film Review: All egos collide in this chaotic chamber drama with magnetic performances

“Dindin” by Brendan Patrick Hughes is a chamber drama that revolves around four middle-aged people – a married couple and their two friends. It is based on a play that one actor wrote and that others wanted to adapt into a film. All of them are theater actors. So the film almost feels like a play that takes place in front of the camera. After all, it’s essentially just four people sitting around a table discussing a variety of topics in a free-flowing conversation, mostly shot in black and white. In this limited context, what matters most is the performances and the writing.

In such cases, the actors must be competent enough to make the conflicts appear credible or to present the issue as urgent. Their faces need to be lit in specific ways to reveal more details of their changing dynamics. With its monochromatic setting, the lighting, the camera angles…