![‘La Grazia’ Review: Paolo Sorrentino Ponders the Presidential Pardon in Stylish Drama [Venice]](https://cdn.theplaylist.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/27141129/%E2%80%98La-Grazia-Review-Paolo-Sorrentino-Ponders-the-Presidential-Pardon-in-Stylish-Drama-Venice-.jpg "‘La Grazia’ Review: Paolo Sorrentino Ponders the Presidential Pardon in Stylish Drama [Venice]")
The team of Paolo Sorrentino and Toni Servillo is one of the great director-actor tandems of contemporary cinema. Don’t believe that? Well, look at the films they made together: six in all, including 2013’s acclaimed ode to Rome, “The Great Beauty.”
Now, the duo’s latest team-up, “La Grazia,” and their first since 2021’s “The Hand Of God,” arrives in US theaters next month, following its opening film status at this year’s Venice Film Festival. And this one, a political drama starring Servillo as the President of Italy, fared better with critics than Sorrentino’s last film, “Parthenope” (although that one, as Sorrentino pics go, is still quite alright). But will it make waves with American audiences?
Here’s an official synopsis for “La Grazia,” courtesy of MUBI:
Mariano De Santis is the President of the Italian Republic. No connection to any real-life presidents; he is entirely a product of the author’s imagination. A widower and a Catholic, he has a daughter, Dorotea, a legal scholar like himself. As his term draws to a close, amid uneventful days, two final duties arise: deciding on two delicate petitions for a presidential pardon. True moral dilemmas, which become tangled, in ways that seem impossible to unravel, with his private life. Driven by doubt, he will have to decide. And, with a deep sense of responsibility, that is exactly what this remarkable Italian President will do.
Along with Servillo, “La Grazia” also stars Anna Ferzetti, Massimo Venturiello, Orlando Cinque, Milvia Marigliano, and Giuseppe Gaiani.
Sorrentino both writes and directs his latest, as he typically does. He also produces the picture with Annamaria Morelli, as well as Andrea Scrosati for Fremantle, and Massimiliano Orfei, Luisa Borella, and Davide Novelli for PiperFilm.
As noted earlier, “La Grazia” had its world premiere as the opening film at the Venice Film Festival, with additional screenings at Telluride, BFI London Film Festival, and NYFF. Servillo won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at Venice for his performance in the film. Critics have been generally positive on the film, with The Playlist’s review awarding it a “B.”
“La Grazia” hits theaters on December 5, courtesy of MUBI. Watch the new trailer for Sorrentino’s latest below.
