As his tenure as President of Italy nears its end, Mariano De Santis faces wrenching decisions-both political and deeply personal. Amid these moral quandaries, he must confront his own conscience and seek guidance from those closest to him, including his confidante and daughter, Dorotea.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.2/10
IMDb: 7.4/10
Letterboxd: 3.70/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
Metacritic: 70
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Paolo Sorrentino
Production
The Apartment Pictures, Numero10, Fremantle Italia, PiperFilm
Cast
Toni Servillo, Anna Ferzetti, Massimo Venturiello, Milvia Marigliano, Orlando Cinque, Giuseppe Gaiani, Giovanna Guida, Alessia Giuliani, Roberto Zibetti, Linda Messerklinger, Vasco Mirandola, Rufin Doh Zeyenouin, Guè, Francesco Martino, Alexandra Gottschlich
Where to watch
MUBI
Curator Review
Verdict
A late-period Paolo Sorrentino drama about power, conscience, and private grief, with the director’s usual mix of political theater, melancholy, and stylized absurdity. If you like elegant, idea-driven films that treat institutions as stages for personal reckoning, this looks like a strong watch.
Best for
Fans of political dramas with a philosophical edge
Viewers who enjoy Sorrentino’s ornate visual style and tonal shifts
Audiences interested in Italian public life and moral ambiguity
People who like character studies centered on aging, duty, and regret
Skip if
You want a straightforward, plot-driven drama
You dislike stylized or self-conscious filmmaking
You prefer realism over symbolic, heightened storytelling
You are put off by political satire mixed with surreal humor
Overview
La Grazia plays like a state portrait that keeps cracking open into something more intimate. As Mariano De Santis approaches the end of his presidency, the film turns political responsibility into a question of personal ethics, memory, and loneliness, with his daughter and inner circle acting as mirrors rather than simple supporting players.
Worth noting
Sorrentino seems especially interested in the absurdity surrounding power: ceremony, media, public image, and the private rituals that keep a leader upright. The tone suggested by audience reactions is both solemn and mischievous, with bursts of surreal comedy and contemporary Italian pop culture colliding against the gravitas of the office.
Bottom line
This is likely to reward viewers who enjoy films that are as much about atmosphere and posture as about narrative mechanics. It should appeal most to people who like their dramas draped in style, music, and moral unease, and who don’t mind a film that lets contradiction do a lot of the talking.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Francesco F. (4★) · 2156 likes
Quando lo spin-off su Coco Valori?
Martymoli (4★) · 1662 likes
Sorrentino con le musiche di Challengers
marika (3★) · 1026 likes
come la spieghi ad una persona non italiana la presenza di gué pequeno
giada (4★) · 1009 likes
ogni presidente della repubblica ha bisogno di una migliore amica lesbica
HusH17 (3.5★) · 976 likes
cose incredibili in questo film:- Papa nero con i dread che va in scooter- il presidente rappa una canzone di Gue- Gue entra nel Quirinale- cane robot sbirro passeggia per Roma- la migliore amica del presidente è lesbica - il presidente del Portogallo cade per terra causa pioggia (+strumentale elettronica senza senso) .
L'italia che vorrei
1974 · Crime, Drama, Mystery · 1h 54m · PG · Curator 9.1/10 (386.9K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
For its paranoia, inwardness, and focus on a solitary professional conscience.
Topics
political drama, character study, Italian cinema, moral dilemma, surreal humor, prestige drama, aging leader, institutional power, melancholy, stylized filmmaking