In a sunny district of Naples, Italy where everyone knows each other, two inseparable friends live in the sheltered bubble of neighborhood life until their fraternal friendship is put to the test. Mario (Vincenzo Antonucci) and Lino (Francesco Pellegrino) are two eighteen-year-olds, born and raised in the Sanitá quarter of Naples, who have not yet stepped out of their small town. When Lino’s little sister convinces the locals that she has performed a miracle and starts being worshipped as a living Saint, Lino’s fate abruptly changes. Freed from the pressure of being financially responsible for his mother and sister, for the first time he’s able to imagine a life for himself outside of the four walls of his family home. Meanwhile, Mario is experiencing a growing attraction to his friend that so far has gone unnoticed.

Both erotic and emotionally intense, this mesmerizing debut from Silvia Brunelli won the Best Italian Feature prize at the Rome International Film Festival, where it was described as “a light and dramatic fresco of a humanity torn between the sacred and the profane.” It’s a bold, funny, and wistful film about masculinity, sexuality, and religion, inspired by the director’s own life experiences, and heralds a dynamic new talent to watch.--Lucy Mukerjee

Silvia Brunelli