The Hand of God (2021)

Paolo Sorrentino crafts an autobiographical portrait of 1980s Naples where beauty and pain coexist unflinchingly. Maradona's arrival functions as a metaphor for unexpected grace amidst routine, while the family tragedy (the accidental death of the protagonist's parents) marks the definitive turn towards maturity. The film does not shy away from the rawness of adolescent sexual awakening nor the exuberant vitality of the Neapolitan environment: there is female nudity, strong language, and situations characteristic of an adult context. Sorrentino films with his characteristic visual sensuality, yet without glorifying immaturity or empty hedonism. Young Fabietto discovers that life is a blend of chance and destiny, and that cinema can be both refuge and vocation. For parents, it is a work that demands maturity from the viewer: the R certification is due to moderate sexual content and adult language, not to ideology. It is auteur cinema that addresses human growth with honesty, devoid of a deconstructive agenda or moralism.