MANIA and the aesthetic representationof obsessive horror

Abstract

This  article  analyzes  the  short film MANIA (2025) through the aesthetic framework of Italian giallo cinema and its contemporary reinterpretation. The study examines how color, lighting, visual composition, sound, and internal focalization function as expressive resources to represent “obsessive horror” and the protagonist’s psychological deterioration. Drawing on references such as Dario Argento and the sensory cinematic approaches of Gaspar Noé, the article argues that audiovisual stylization constructs a perceptual experience aimed at representing the progressive distortion of reality caused by obsession. Through a restricted focalization, the spectator observes the character’s psychological deterioration from the position of a witness rather than through emotional identification. In addition, discussions from feminist film theory and the ethics of representation are incorporated to critically examine certain forms of focalization and representation present in traditional horror cinema. Finally, the article contends that obsessive horror manifests not only through narrative but also through mise-en-scène, spatial construction, and the altered perception embedded in the filmic experience.