Grace 4K 2025

Grace' is one of those rare instances where the director, while captivated by beauty, didn’t lose sight of the plot or bore the audience. This has happened with Sorrentino before, as in his previous film, ‘Penelope’.

Despite tackling a complex subject like euthanasia, the new film doesn’t feel entirely gloomy or heavy. There is room here for humor, self-irony, and even unexpected rap and techno soundtracks, which suddenly fit extremely organically into the image of the main character—the fictional Italian president Mariano de Santis.

De Santis is a serious man, devoted to his country, a former lawyer, now serving his sixth term in office. But he is so tired—tired of rules, of prohibitions, and finally, of his own indecisiveness, for which everyone, even his daughter, who works as his lawyer, reproaches him.

And yet you genuinely empathize with this character, because we are shown not just a “concrete politician,” as his colleagues call him behind his back, but also a man who is no stranger to simple values. With what love he immerses himself in memories of his wife. How kindly he debates with his longtime friend. And how he worries about his children, his daughter and son, without letting it show.

And then several murder cases and the euthanasia law come up for consideration. There are two choices: pass the difficult decisions on to his successor (which is an attractive option for our hero), or deal with them himself.

Sorrentino invites the viewer to embark on a difficult but fascinating journey alongside the protagonist and, ultimately, to answer the question: to whom does life belong?

All in all, the film turned out to be stunning—vibrant, ironic, beautiful, but not in a flashy way, rather with a kind of weary, subdued beauty, befitting the main character. Here, the shots draw you in not so much with their grandeur as with their serenity. And through it all, a pulsating soundtrack (called Surf Rider) plays. Or the lyrics from a rap song that the president hums.

Tony Servillo is particularly wonderful and natural in the role of the president here. Throughout the entire film, you can’t help but admire his range of emotions. The other actors are also very good and don’t get lost in Servillo’s shadow at all.

If you want to see Paolo Sorrentino at his best, ‘Grace’ is exactly the film for you.