“Familia”

Director Francesco Costabile‘s dark melodrama “Familia” blends elements of a psychological thriller with social commentary, yet it struggles to rise above the familiar tropes of domestic abuse stories. Based on Luigi Celeste’s autobiographical novel “It Won’t Be Like This Forever,” the story translates well enough to the screen, but it isn’t distinctive enough to stand out from similar tales.

The film follows the journey of Alessandro (Marco Cicalese) and Luigi (Francesco Gheghi), two brothers haunted by a toxic family legacy. The youngest becomes entangled with extremist ideologies, while the eldest does his best to hold things together. After witnessing years of physical abuse from their father (Francesco Di Leva) towards their mother (Barbara Ronchi), these young men live a life filled with the ups and downs of a destructive cycle of violence balanced with their quest for redemption. And when their dad is released from prison and moves back in, it doesn’t end well for the family.

The main problem with this story is that it’s a been there, done that type of scenario. Luigi has fallen in with a dangerous crowd (because of course he has), and Costabile takes his time to tell a story that is predictable from the onset. You know where this is going, there’s nothing to subvert your expectations, and it takes far too long to get there.

The too-familiar themes of systemic failure, abuse, and the cycle of violence are well-trodden ground in cinema, and unfortunately, this film doesn’t bring much new to the table.

The character arcs lack depth (although the opening ten minutes are promising, Costabile jumps so far ahead in time so rapidly that we never have the breathing room to establish a strong connection with the boys), making the film’s two-hour runtime feel unnecessarily drawn out. I had already lost interest thirty minutes before the big “shock and surprise” finally occurred.

Ultimately, that’s what makes “Familia” feel like just another riff on a well-worn story. This version has, unfortunately, been stripped of all its emotional power.

By: Louisa Moore