There is a certain philosophy to seizing the day, and for some, that philosophy involves an unending commitment to the bottle for the sake of best friends. This is the backdrop for Francesco Sossai’s wry film, which washes the screen in a thick layer of lived-in melancholy. It’s a story less about grand events and more about the slow, lingering ache of memory woven through the rhythm of a road trip.
At the heart of the narrative are Carlobianchi and Doriano (Sergio Romano and Pierpaolo Capovilla), a duo whose relationship is as inseparable as the cycle they inhabit. Their routine is a perfect loop: a perpetual cycle of hangovers, hair-of-the-dog remedies, and shared reminiscing. They use their journey to revisit old times, tracing the ghosts of friendship across the scenic backwaters of northern Italian Veneto in their car, perpetually searching for just one more moment on the road.
Their memories often drift toward a shared figure: Genio (Andrea Pennacchi), an old friend who carved out a life elsewhere after the financial turmoil of 2008. The film uses this connection to explore themes of restlessness, displacement, and the enduring nature of deep bonds, set against the backdrop of Italy’s beautiful, yet sometimes isolating, landscapes.
But even the most established routines are ripe for disruption. The familiar double-act is gently shaken when they encounter Guilio (Filippo Scotti), a stressed-out architecture student who enters their orbit. Guilio mirrors the duo in his lack of romantic direction—his romantic inclinations, much like his friends’, seem to be heading nowhere fast. Introverted and contemplative, Guilio brings a fresh complexity to the melancholic road trip, offering an unexpected dimension to the friendship and the search for meaning.
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Credit: Eye For Film
