Intro: Still in Italy, I was looking for something to watch on the one evening I decided to spend at home. I was scrolling through Netflix, unsure what to watch, and found this. The last time I watched a new Italian movie was ages ago, so I decided to give it a go. To feel a bit like I still belong.
Film 2470: "30 notti con il mio ex" (2025), Guido Chiesa
Watched: From the TV
Language: Italian
Watched with: No one
Thoughts: I think the idea behind this story works and the potential is there, but I didn't fully buy the overall execution.
Bruno (Edoardo Leo) lives with his teenage daughter, with whom he struggles to connect. His ex-wife (Micaela Ramazzotti) comes back into the picture when she spends 30 days with them before being able to return to the real world now that her mental health treatment has concluded. I thought this premise was intriguing and could definitely set up an interesting story for all the characters involved, which it does to a certain extent. Being back together as a family is initially a struggle, but then things seem to work once again and, inevitably, feelings resurface and it all gets messy again. I'm fine with the story; I think it certainly doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it does a decent job of portraying a realistic scenario of what it would look like if a situation similar to the one depicted here happened in real life.
The issue for me lies with the ending, a classic cliffhanger that doesn't really work here. I'm not sure if this choice of ending the movie this way was intentional or just a replica of the Argentinian film this movie is inspired by ("30 noches con mi ex" by Adrián Suar), but it really bothered me. You've invested a couple of hours in this story, these characters, their lives and struggles, and how they finally start to cope with the new setup they're in and... the story ends. Caput. No more. Go home.
I'm sure this is supposed to be the movie's way of letting you decide for yourself what happens to these people, but it's actually just extremely frustrating. I really, really don't like open endings and, for a movie like this one, an alleged romcom, it is possibly the worst way to end your story. Or rather, not end it at all.
Ending aside, I appreciated Edoardo Leo's performance. To me, it was the one most grounded in reality. Micaela Ramazzotti is an extremely gifted actress, but here I felt she was basically giving off the same character vibes as the one she previously played in "La pazza gioia". Additionally, the whimsical, slightly frantic way she plays Terry started to get on my nerves after a while. You'd expect her character to grow and change as the story progresses, but there's a child-like quality to her that never really goes away, and I thought it felt unnecessary once Terry starts to regain her confidence and reconnect with her family.
I think I was expecting "30 notti con il mio ex" to be something different, maybe more comedic and lighthearted than it actually is. Which is obviously fine, but possibly not what I was looking for at that moment. That said, I still believe this could have been a better movie with a different ending, fewer dead moments, and a more grounded portrayal of mental illness, recovery, and reconnecting with the world and your loved ones.
Cast: Edoardo Leo, Micaela Ramazzotti, Gloria Harvey, Claudio Colica, Francesca Valtorta, Matteo Scattaretico, Anna Bonaiuto.
Box Office: $1,552,852
Worth a watch?: Not a romcom, more a dramedy... maybe? I didn't necessarily laugh, but there are definitely lighter moments. The ending was a big no-no for me. Overall, if you enjoy Italian movies, this is definitely not the worst one you could watch, but not the best either. It's more middle of the way for me.
Awards: /
Key word: Mental illness.
Trailer
#HollywoodCiak
Bengi
Watched: From the TV
Language: Italian
Watched with: No one
Thoughts: I think the idea behind this story works and the potential is there, but I didn't fully buy the overall execution.
Bruno (Edoardo Leo) lives with his teenage daughter, with whom he struggles to connect. His ex-wife (Micaela Ramazzotti) comes back into the picture when she spends 30 days with them before being able to return to the real world now that her mental health treatment has concluded. I thought this premise was intriguing and could definitely set up an interesting story for all the characters involved, which it does to a certain extent. Being back together as a family is initially a struggle, but then things seem to work once again and, inevitably, feelings resurface and it all gets messy again. I'm fine with the story; I think it certainly doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it does a decent job of portraying a realistic scenario of what it would look like if a situation similar to the one depicted here happened in real life.
The issue for me lies with the ending, a classic cliffhanger that doesn't really work here. I'm not sure if this choice of ending the movie this way was intentional or just a replica of the Argentinian film this movie is inspired by ("30 noches con mi ex" by Adrián Suar), but it really bothered me. You've invested a couple of hours in this story, these characters, their lives and struggles, and how they finally start to cope with the new setup they're in and... the story ends. Caput. No more. Go home.
I'm sure this is supposed to be the movie's way of letting you decide for yourself what happens to these people, but it's actually just extremely frustrating. I really, really don't like open endings and, for a movie like this one, an alleged romcom, it is possibly the worst way to end your story. Or rather, not end it at all.
Ending aside, I appreciated Edoardo Leo's performance. To me, it was the one most grounded in reality. Micaela Ramazzotti is an extremely gifted actress, but here I felt she was basically giving off the same character vibes as the one she previously played in "La pazza gioia". Additionally, the whimsical, slightly frantic way she plays Terry started to get on my nerves after a while. You'd expect her character to grow and change as the story progresses, but there's a child-like quality to her that never really goes away, and I thought it felt unnecessary once Terry starts to regain her confidence and reconnect with her family.
I think I was expecting "30 notti con il mio ex" to be something different, maybe more comedic and lighthearted than it actually is. Which is obviously fine, but possibly not what I was looking for at that moment. That said, I still believe this could have been a better movie with a different ending, fewer dead moments, and a more grounded portrayal of mental illness, recovery, and reconnecting with the world and your loved ones.
Cast: Edoardo Leo, Micaela Ramazzotti, Gloria Harvey, Claudio Colica, Francesca Valtorta, Matteo Scattaretico, Anna Bonaiuto.
Box Office: $1,552,852
Worth a watch?: Not a romcom, more a dramedy... maybe? I didn't necessarily laugh, but there are definitely lighter moments. The ending was a big no-no for me. Overall, if you enjoy Italian movies, this is definitely not the worst one you could watch, but not the best either. It's more middle of the way for me.
Awards: /
Key word: Mental illness.
Trailer
#HollywoodCiak
Bengi
