Based on a novel by Roberto Bolaņo, IL FUTURO - the third feature film of Chilean director Alicia Scherson - seems hampered by its narration (which probably reads more dynamically) and its sedate pacing (presumably emulating the mindframe of the heroine in mourning). Having lost their parents to a car accident, nineteen-year old Bianca (Manuela Martelli, B-HAPPY) is left in charge of her younger brother Tomas (Luigi Ciardo, MARTINO'S SUMMER). While Bianca leaves school to take a job as a hairdresser - while waiting for the bureaucratic red tape to be cleared up and give them access to their father's pension - Tomas skips school to hang out at a nearby gym in the company of trainers Libio (Nicolas Vaporidis, IAGO) and Boloņes (Alessandro Giallocosta) who insinuate their way into the household (and later into Bianca's bed). While the titular future for Tomas and his friends represents material goals (Bianca only muses about opening her own salon even though she has not yet learned to cut hair), Bianca seems to be in search of another identity to replace the fractured one left in the wake of her loss. When Libio and Boloņes hit upon the idea to use her to seduce and rob peplum actor Mr. Bruno (Rutger Hauer, BLADE RUNNER) - nicknamed "Maciste" after the Hercules-like Roman hero (many of the real "Maciste" films substited Hercules for the character name in the English-dubbed versions while some renamed him Goliath). A recluse in a rambling mansion since a road accident blinded him, "Maciste" requires female companionship, and their sessions are as fleshly as they are probing of each others identities (from answers to survey questions to private confessions and discussions of dreams). When Bianca starts to fall in love with "Maciste" - possibly just as a means of psychological escape - she begins to feel guilty about her scheme even though he seemingly cannot love her in return.