Directed by:
Paolo GenoveseCinematography:
Fabrizio LucciComposer:
Maurizio FilardoCast:
Giuseppe Battiston, Anna Foglietta, Marco Giallini, Edoardo Leo, Valerio Mastandrea, Alba Rohrwacher, Kasia Smutniak, Benedetta Porcaroli (more)Plots(1)
The titular perfect strangers are actually seven long-time friends (three couples and one bachelor), all 40ish, who gather on a warm summer evening for a dinner party to watch a lunar eclipse. They agree that no private calls or messaging will disrupt their evening, and in a communal fit of 'we have nothing to hide' bravado, they place their devices on the table and declare that all incoming calls and texts are shared with the group (letting a caller know they're on speaker is considered a cheat). But what seems at first like an innocent and playful distraction between friends quickly turns into something more, as some eye-opening secrets about the partners and acquaintances opposite begin to emerge... (Madman Entertainment)
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Reviews (11)
Perfect Strangers is an excellent conversational film built on a simple yet original idea escalated by some surprising
twists. True, Woody Allen or Roman Polanski would have given it the unique poetics of a great filmmaker, but can’t we do without
that? The success of the conventional form is all the more appreciated when it is due “only” to the right cast, brisk pace
and striking socially significant moments. The call from the 17-year-old daughter is the emotional, human peak of the
film, while the earrings scene is the best moment of the film’s comical side. And there is a nice ending in the style of La
La Land. I think an American remake, which would get a rating of about 68% on this website, is more than likely (with
Bateman, Sudeikis, Vergara et al?).
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An excellent Italian conversational comedy that gets progressively more and more dramatic. The main idea is very original and I'm sure that many of us have thought about how such an evening might turn out in our case. The film makes you think about how many secrets we actually have and how much we pretend to be somobody else in front of the others.
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An Italian single-location film that was surprisingly enjoyable. I find games like truth or dare pathetic, but this version enhanced by cellphones was downright suicidal. For example, I'd love to see Sofia's reaction if she found out with whom daddy shared their private conversation. The creators did an excellent job portraying the individual characters and I really enjoyed the conclusion which unraveled the alternative version of the story. I was completely satisfied.
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I was reminded of the dialogue from the sitcom Black Books: "Do you remember who all was at that dinner?" "I don't. Him and his friends. You know, the sort of people who talk about salad for five hours." Which indirectly captures the problem with Perfect Strangers. I didn't care about the characters. With one bright exception, it's just a bland gathering of upper-middle-class Italian hypocrites whose standard topics are food, drink, vacations, health, and each other's relationships. What then happens to these two-legged Elle catalogues as a result of their own boredom and disenchantment is truly irrelevant. So what can you do with them. Moreover, the whole thing is really just a stage play, with the film format bringing absolutely nothing extra to the table. For a truly bitter tragicomedy that can work formally within the limited space of a single apartment, I'd instead invite you to join the Hajdu family party in It's Not the Time of My Life.
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A very current subject treated in a very likeable way through a conversational dramedy that can be very urgent at times, but also maintains an evaluative distance through a number of light elements and deliberately exaggerated escalation. The final twist may not be worth thinking about or taking seriously in relation to the overall message, but I really enjoyed the course of the film, got to know the characters very quickly, and it flashed a minimal warning light in my head that I've seen this before somewhere else... 75%
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