L’immensità

Oscar-winner Penélope Cruz commands the screen as a loving mother raising her three children in 1970s Rome in this acclaimed drama from writer/director Emanuele Crialese. Clara (Cruz) and her husband Felice leave Spain and relocate to a new apartment in Rome to raise a family. Although their marriage is loveless, they stay together, with Clara finding joy in her children, who she loves and cares for fervently, and for their sake she tries to make family life a constant party filled with singing, dancing and laughter.  Her eldest, Adriana, is on the verge of adolescence and questioning their gender identity, causing further friction in the traditional household. But Clara understands what it feels like to be misunderstood and unfulfilled, and she’ll do whatever it takes to give Adriana and her other children the happiness they deserve. (Dir. by Emanuele Crialese, 2022, Italy/France, in Italian with English subtitles, 97 min., Not Rated)