Iconic and timeless performance by Maggie Smith and Michael Caine. Everything else is forgettable. The Billy Cosby sections are infuriatingly boring and I wish they just didn't exist. Except Smith, all the women succumb to their men's antics. As a collection of three shorts on three couples in different stages of their relationships, it would have been enjoyable, but cutting and stitching them together was pointlessly cruel as this is not a play and each character is played by a different person.

Eye-candy: yes. Simone Baldasseroni dutifully provides multiple shirtless scenes and Alessandro Bedetti reinforces in the sides with homoerotic twink energy from his role as totally not credible bad guy. If you're not a Tearsmith or Baldasseroni fan, you can skip to the final two minutes and get all the salient scenes conveniently packaged together.

The Italian dubbing is catastrophic although the film was clearly shot in Italian. What happened?!

A thoughtful perspective on self-harm and self-love, acceptance and rejection. A stunning performance by Noa Risbro Hjerrild carries the day: I was shaking with him during the scenes of everyday family abuse, while I was a bit numbed and perplexed by the supposedly more dramatic scenes. Heavy-handed sound is used to fill some blanks. A sudden intervention brings the story to a somewhat conventional ending.

Seen at the HIFF 2024 premiere. Good to watch with "Sebastian" and "Solitude".