Favolacce

Once upon a time in a suburb of Rome: a sterile estate of terraced houses full of many a family trying to imitate family happiness for the outside world. But under the surface, permanently frustrated parents struggle with their living conditions and view themselves as failures. The silence hides the violence of the fathers and the passivity of the mothers. The real casualties are the children, who experience their parents’ bitterness firsthand. Situated between desperation and suppressed anger, the mood during the scorching summer heat threatens to explode at any minute. Using artful imagery to cast a critical eye on human nature and its grotesque sidd, this bitterly evil fairy tale by the D’Innocenzo brothers is a swan song about the Italian middle class.