SOMEBODY TO LOVE

THREE STARS A couple are on a date which could go well if only the voices in their heads would just stop talking!

DRAMA ITALY Italian #FOLLEMENTE Starring Pilar Fogliati, Edoardo Leo

Paolo Genovese returns to the high-concept relationship comedy with SOMEBODY TO LOVE (Follemente), a largely enjoyable Italian rom-com that imagines a first date as a lively committee meeting inside two anxious minds. The premise will sound familiar — part Pixar’s Inside Out, part Woody Allen neuroticism — but Genovese gives it a distinctly adult, Italian spin, one rooted in romantic disappointment, self-doubt and the fear of saying exactly the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time.

The setup is simple and effective. A man and a woman meet for a first date in her apartment. Outwardly polite, inwardly chaotic, each is guided (sabotaged) by a chorus of internal voices representing reason, desire, fear, impulse and restraint. These competing personalities debate every glance, pause and conversational misstep, turning small social moments into psychological battlegrounds.

Pilar Fogliati is immediately winning as the woman, carrying the quiet weight of past romantic failures without turning brittle or cynical. Edoardo Leo plays her counterpart, a divorced schoolteacher whose decency is matched only by his hesitation. Their chemistry is gentle rather than electric, but that’s the point: SOMEBODY TO LOVE thrives on awkwardness and emotional near-misses rather than grand romantic gestures.

The supporting ensemble, those the ‘voices’ in their heads, is uniformly strong, with eight performers bouncing off one another in sharply written exchanges. Visually, the film is polished without being showy. Production designer Massimiliano Sturiale creates three stylised mental spaces that feel expressive rather than lived-in, while Fabrizio Lucci’s cinematography keeps things clean and unobtrusive. The secret weapon is Consuelo Catucci whose editing ensures the internal debates land with precise, comic timing.

While consistently amusing, the situations often devolve into a 4, 5, sometimes 6 person talk-a-thon that robs the film of a lightness that might have elevated it from clever to delightful. Their noise overwhelms the romance and often keeps the story tethered when it should be floating.

Nonetheless, SOMEBODY TO LOVE is smart and funny; and a charming reminder that the biggest obstacle to love (or life) is usually those voices inside our head.

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