December 11, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by Paolo Sorrentino
Italian with subtitles
Culture Representation: Taking place in 2025 in Italy, the dramatic film “La Grazia” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with one black person) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: During the last days of his final term, the elderly president of Italy must make decisions about several controversial legal issues, as he remains preoccupied by the death of his wife and finding out the identity of the lover who had an extramarital affair with her 40 years ago.
Culture Audience: “La Grazia” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino, and well-acted and stylish dramas about powerful politicians.
“La Grazia” is an elegant and contemplative character study about a fictional Italian president during the last days of his final term. This drama includes his dilemmas on how to handle a euthanasia bill, pardons for murderers, and grief over his dead wife. The movie also has some unexpected touches of comedy, such as this retiring president developing a fascination for rap music.
Written and directed by Paolo Sorrentino, “La Grazia” (which means “the grace” in Italian) had its world premiere at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival, where “La Grazia” star Toni Servillo won the prize for Best Actor. “La Grazia” also screened at the 2025 Telluride Film Festival and the 2025 New York Film Festival. “La Grazia” was filmed in the Italian cities of Rome, Turin, and Milan, where the story in the movie also takes place. “La Grazia” is definitely an improvement from the dull and pretentious “Parthenope,” Sorrentino’s other movie released in 2025.
“La Grazia” (which takes place in 2025) begins with captions listing several of the biggest responsibilities that a president of Italy has. It’s a dry list of political duties that doesn’t take into account the nuances of human flaws, compromises and ethically murky dealmaking that are inevitable in any political job. It’s a list that doesn’t take into account how politicians often make decisions that are not necessarily what is in the best interest for the politician’s constituents but instead the decisions are often based on the politician’s own self-interest.
“La Grazia” doesn’t show too much of the pomp and circumstance of being the leader of an influential nation such as Italy. The movie is more about how one fictional Italian president named Mariano De Santis (played by Servillo) thinks about how his current decisions can affect the future of Italy, as he is being haunted by his past. Mariano’s wife Aurora died eight years ago (in 2017), and he still talks to her in his mind, especially when he is alone, with thoughts such as, “I miss you.”
Based on these thoughts and memories of Aurora, Mariano loved her almost the point of worshipping her. Losing her has been devastating for him. But there is one thing about their marriage that still bothers him: She had an extramarital affair 40 years ago. The affair ended, but Mariano was never able to find out who her lover was. Finding out this information becomes one of the central matters that Mariano wants to resolve before he retires.
Another issue that Mariano grapples with in this story is whether or not he will sign a bill into law that would make human euthanasia legal in Italy under medically approved circumstances. In the beginning of the movie, Mariano (who is Catholic but who believes in the separation of church and state) is leaning toward vetoing the bill. His feelings about euthanasia become more personal when his beloved horse Elvis becomes terminally ill, and he refuses advice to have the horse die through euthanasia. He comments on the controversial nature of this euthanasia bill: “If I don’t sign, I’m a torturer. If I do sign, I’m a murderer.”
The other major issue that Mariano has to confront before his presidency ends is whether or not to pardon two people who’ve been convicted of first-degree murder. Isa Rocca (played by Linda Messerklinger) is a 45-year-old woman who killed her husband Alessio Picone because he often physically and emotional abused her. Isa has served nine years of her prison sentence so far and wants this pardon.
The second convicted murderer is Cristiano Arpa (played by Vasco Mirandola), a 74-year-old retired history teacher, who killed his wife because she had Alzheimer’s disease, and he said it was a euthanasia killing that she wanted. Unlike Isa, Cristiano does not want to be pardoned, but many people in his Turin community (including several of his former students) have been petitioning for Cristiano to be pardoned. Mariano has a very unconventional way for a nation’s president to decide whether or not he will pardon a convicted murderer. The public reaction to how Mariano handles it is one of the more comical scenes in the movie.
And there’s another issue that is looming over Mariano that he is reluctant to confront: whether or not he will endorse a successor. Ugo Romani (played by Massimo Venturiello), Italy’s current minister of justice, is Mariano’s longest friend: Ugo and Mariano have been best friends since high school. Ugo has been up front in asking Mariano to endorse Ugo if Ugo becomes a candidate to replace Mariano. In this same meeting to request the endorsement, Ugo also asks Mariano to pardon Isa because Isa is the niece of Ugo’s love partner.
Mariano’s peers have given him the nickname Reinforced Concrete because of his reputation for being stoic, formal and unwavering (or stubborn) in his beliefs. It’s meant to be a flattering nickname because Mariano can be counted on to be consistent and stable, unlike many politicians who flip-flop on issues and alliances, depending on what will give the politicians the most advantages at the time. Mariano is somewhat flattered by this nickname but he wonders if it means he has a reputation for being too rigid.
“La Grazia” is a richly layered story that mixes realism with some of the surrealistic daydreams that Mariano has, such as when he remembers the first time that he saw Aurora, or when he is deeply moved by seeing an Italian astronaut who has been living alone in space station for a year. For all of Mariano’s power and being surrounded by people who want to be close to him, “La Grazia” shows with unsparing detail that he is experiencing the old adage, “It’s lonely at the top.”
Mariano has a very small inner circle of people whom he trusts. His workaholic bachelorette daughter Dorotea De Santis (played by Anna Ferzetti), who is his personal aide, probably knows him better than anyone who’s still alive. Another longtime close friend is art critic Coco Valori (played by Milvia Marigliano), who is outspoken and sassy. Mariano trusts their opinions because they are not “yes” people who say only what they think he wants to hear. Ugo is a longtime friend, but Mariano’s trust in Ugo begins to waver when he begins to suspect that Ugo was Aurora’s secret lover.
An early scene in “La Grazia” shows the type of banter that Mariano has with Dorotea, who is very protective about Mariano’s health because her mother . Mariano smoking a cigarette outside. And when he goes back inside the capital building where he works, Dorotea says in a mildly scolding manner, “President DeSantis, You’ve been smoking.” Mariano denies that he was smoking, but Dorotea knows better. Dorotea says, “May I remind you that you only have one lung”?” Mariano replies, “No, since I only had two.”
Mariano’s other child is a son named Riccardo De Santis (played by Francesco Martino), a pop music songwriter who has recently moved to Montreal. Mariano tries to understand more about pop music, which leads him to stumble into developing a fascination with rap music that celebrates decadent lifestyles. Riccardo appears briefly in the movie in a video chat that he and Dorotea have with Mariano.
Another character who doesn’t have a lot of screen time in the movie but who is important to Mariano is military general Lanfranco Mare (played by Giuseppe Gaiani), a warmonger who has the nickname Night-Mare. The Catholic Church’s current Pope (played by Rufin Doh Zeyenouin) makes short but impactful appearances in scenes where he is portrayed as a jovial scooter-riding clergy leader who gives common-sense advice to Mariano and tells Mariano that Mariano has “la grazia.” And there’s an unnamed editorial director of Vogue magazine (voiced by Ornella Amodio) who has been calling to request an interview with Mariano to talk about what he likes to wear when he’s not working. This interview ends up being more than just about Mariano’s fashion choices.
Although all of the cast members perform well in their roles, “La Grazia” is truly anchored by Servillo’s absorbing performance, which skillfully shows Mariano’s inner and outer lives. Daria D’Antonio’s cinematography for “La Grazia” is sumptuous and breathtaking (a scene that takes place at the La Scala Opera House is one of the visual standouts) and immerses viewers in the realistic and the fantastical elements of the film. At 132 minutes, “La Grazia” tends to meander in some scenes and could’ve used better editing to make it a more cohesive story. However, it’s a very stylish and unique film where the story’s major questions are answered by the end of the movie, which leaves room for some lighthearted comedy amidst some of the emotionally heavy subject matter.
MUBI released “La Grazia” in select U.S. cinemas on December 5, 2025. The MUBI streaming service will premiere the movie on January 23, 2026.
