Dave Cunningham
The Hand of God is a 2021 Italian drama film, on limited theater release from December 3rd, and due to be released on Netflix December 15th.
Written and directed by Academy Award-winning Paolo Sorrentino, known for productions like Il Divo, The Great Beauty, and The Young Pope, this film is a beautiful tribute to Sorrentino’s formative years, a coming-of-age story of a boy in Naples in the 1980s. The Hand of God is a funny, sad, and heartwarming tale, with the stunning city of Napoli as its backdrop.
A shy, quiet 17-year-old boy, Fabietto Schiesi, played by Filippo Scotti navigates his way through life in Naples without many friends. He follows his home football team, Napoli, whose star player is Diego Maradona, and he listens to music and hangs out with his older brother Marchino, played by Marlon Joubert, all while he dreams of studying philosophy in college.
Fabietto’s relationship with his parents is as tumultuous as any other teenager-parent relationship. His parents Saverio and Maria, played by Toni Servillo and Teresa Saponangelo are going through a rocky patch because although they seem to be in love, we discover that Saverio has been having an affair for quite a while, which obviously has an impact on the introverted teenaged Fabietto.
The Hand of God also stars Luisa Ranieri as Fabietto’s Aunt Patrizia, Renato Carpentieri, Massimiliano Gallo, Betti Pedrazzi as the Schiesi’s neighbor Baroness Focale, Biagio Manna and Ciro Capano.
Watch the official Netflix teaser here:
