Very nice, thoughtful film showing us how life events shape us as we grow from adolescence into maturity. It might feel slow to others that aren't attuned to this style of filmmaking. If you spend too much on Tik Tok or watching shorts, the brain rot kicks in. I know, because it happens me. And this was a film I used to break out of my bad habits. The Hand of God is a bittersweet exploration of youth, memory, and destiny, where Paolo Sorrentino weaves a personal coming-of-age tale shaped by family love, sudden loss, and the unpredictable turns of fate. Through Fabietto’s eyes, the film captures the beauty and absurdity of everyday life in Naples, showing how grief can ignite artistic passion and how nostalgia colours the way we understand our past. It is both a tribute to the city’s vibrant spirit and a reflection on how life’s most painful moments can ultimately shape who we become. I'll give this a rewatch and I might change my score.

Whatever it is that this movie is about, I did not get it. Perhaps it is a great movie, but I feel as if there is a lot of understanding of Italian culture necessary to get at this movie. I dearly hope that this is not an accurate depiction of life in Italy (at the time) for it looked terrible.

Meandering directionless film, I found most of the character unlikable. Scenes dragged on way too long and I just kept loosing interest. I had to stop watching halfway through and I very rarely do that for any movie.

evil captilas in the house go hey

A coming of age tale of a young man growing up in Naples, Italy in the 1980’s. The partly autobiographical film of the filmmaker’s youth makes effective use of long shots of the young man staring at the events unfolding around him during that time in life when you feel more like a spectator than a participant in your own life. It’s the tale of a people-watcher that becomes a filmmaker. Ultimately, forgettable.

I will always come back to this film, its beautiful!! of course Sorrentino made this.

It's just weird enough to have a real sense of authenticity, something a lot of other coming of age films lack.

Heart. What a mess our hearts make, what a beautiful messy love.

Day 2 day life in Napoli, well filmed with a nice casting. Maradona is a pretext for this nice movie centered around a large napolitan family.

Liked it. An episode with baronessa is great

Memoir of a young man with a cracked out Italian family. Though the characters are borderline obnoxious, the boy's journey is a unique one. The crazy aunt and the little monk / if you can't cry yet, you're not ready.

I'd like to watch this in Italian - to give it a special flavor. Very personal story telling and though it wasn't totally captivating and there were several times I wished it was the end of the movie, almost every moment of it ultimately seemed necessary. Congrats to Paolo Sorrentino.

I think I’ve seen quite a few Italian coming-of-age stories, and I’m not sure where this one fits in. It’s beautifully shot, and I liked the first half, the frenetic energy of Napoli as the possibility of Maradona transferring looms…but in the end it’s hard to say whether the protagonist really grew. He seems as confused and lost as ever. But maybe that’s just a more realistic coming-of-age story, and apparently it’s somewhat autobiographical.

The illustrious Fellini appreciator, Sorrentino, and his own Amarcord. It did make me wonder why it took him so long. But an hour in, you simply understand how hard it must've been to put this together. From what I've read, it is obviously a flanderization of his relatives and events from his youth, but they are wholeheartedly authentic. And the exaggeration is there for the sake of prominence, even if it rarely reaches the bizarre heights of its predecessors. There are many interesting people in his life, such as the whole opening scenes with his aunt. The melancholic meandering that sets in after the one-hour mark is obviously deliberate. And if you're looking for a focused narrative, this isn't the film for you. Memories of soul searching and being forced to grow up because your previous life was cut short by what can only be described as fate.

Not the best coming-of-age film, but still pretty good with some interesting features.

Its a gorgeous and well shot movie with a very intimate story about growing up and make hard choices.

Bem bonitinho, com situações caseiras e cotidianas, familiaridade Latina, muito agradável e engraçadinho… Um início tão fofo e cativante, que nos faz pensar na nossa própria família, até que a tragédia se abate sobre eles, em pensar que foi a vida de Paolo Sorrentino reescrita pelo próprio, que momento tristinho, um filme família, trágico, fofo, delicado e sensível, cativante… "Fiz o que pude, acho que não fui tão mal" Maradona, o melhor jogador de todos os tempos...

A scintillating journey through the life of the director himself. Can't find freshness but seems good in its entirety.

From that opening shot of Naples from the sea, Sorrentino's film had me mesmerized. We begin and end with Southern Italian religiosity; in the middle, there's one mess of a family. The Schisa's are fun, silly, and a little absurd. That lunch/dinner scene at the long table with Signora Gentile (Dora Romano) eating the wet mozzarella off to the side is wonderful. It's a coming-of-age story, so there's a lot of our protag, Fabietto (Filippo Scotti), gazing at beautiful women — including one he's related to (Luisa Ranieri) — and other moments of growing pains. We get the scene of parents fighting while the child is in the bedroom hearing it all unfold in lots of movies, but here, when Maria (Teresa Saponangelo) is screaming after learning, once again, that her husband (Toni Servillo) has been unfaithful to her, really hits you in an uncomfortable place. Mariettiello (Lino Musella), a developmentally disabled (?) man, is one of the sweetest characters I've ever seen — I'd watch an entire short just observing a day in his life. ***SPOILERS*** The final moments we spend with Maria and Severio (Servillo) are precious. Their deaths are absolutely gut-wrenching. When Fabietto is finally able to cry in the schoolyard, the shot is impeccable — we don't see his face, only those of his classmates witnessing the breakdown (the scene is also scored beautifully). I could've gone without some of the more typical coming-of-age tropes and the movie seems to lose a little of its steam in the third act, but it still ends on a high, if not unexpected, note. One thing I didn't understand was why Fabietto and his brother (Marlon Jaubert) would be so strapped for cash after their parents' passing, as his father was a higher-up at a bank (they owned a second home) and I think they have life insurance policies in Italy? Nevertheless, The Hand of God is visually stunning, well-acted, funny, meandering (in a good way), touching, and uncomfortable at times. As it stands, it's my highest-rated movie of 2021.

I thought it was ok overall, but it really didn't seem to amount to much other than family squabbles over various issues.