Tony

Had the chance to watch this in BH in 2019 and was blown away by the level of this short. The director nailed the tone and we actually feel like we are in the 80s. The music, outstanding, helps creating this world and establish this particular time. Ensemble is great, the main character Tony kills it and although the arc is quite simple, it's anchored in truth and executed well. Stylized yet realistic, violent yet beautiful, Tony is at cool as it gets when it comes to shorts. Looking forward to see what's next...

This beautifully made film encapsulates a time and place brilliantly while poignantly capturing themes which currently resonate. It's hard to believe this is the debut film for lead actor / director Hugo Diego Garcia. With beauty, action, excellent performances by Garcia and a killer ensemble cast, and a throbbing score by MALO, we feel as if we're in the hands of a veteran here. Watch this film and remember it. Hugo Diego Garcia will be a household name.

Felt like oldschool Scorsese style - as visually interesting as it is story-wise. I loved the combination of European and American cinematic energies and structure - it made for a more beautiful version of a film that still had a plot that kept you wanting to know what would happen next. Loved it!

It still boggles my mind how someone could direct a film they also star in, but Garcia does it here with confidence.

Tony is a sure handed outing - dripping with style and tone. Very much look forward to what comes next from this team!

"Senseless violence is a prerogative of youth, which has much energy but little talent for the constructive." - Anthony Burgess

Burgess' quote seems fittingly applied by filmmaker Hugo Diego Garcia in his film "Tony," which follows a young Spaniard immigrant who joins a gang of thuggish racially persecuted immigrants in 1980's France.

There are times where the narrative of this period gangster film meanders, yet the acting, specifically Hugo Diego Garcia, who also plays the lead character Tony, makes up for any story flaws. Garcia's understated performance lingers, seeping through your veins like a slow intravenous drip. Through the smallest, most subtle reactions, Garcia plays a likable, empathetic rogue, delivering a complex character, struggling with layers of internal conflict, whose emotional frailty manifests in a paralytic moral split.

As a director, Hugo Diego Garcia has a visually arresting sensibility. Stylistically, "Tony" reminded me of Scorsese's "Mean Streets" and Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange." Garcia's directorial debut is far from perfect, but there is no doubt that he delivers a vivid, indelible, emotive performance.