Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
Michele, a young mathematics professor, moves into a new flat. Lonely, depressed and neurotic, he spends his time obsessively monitoring the couples around him, especially his neighbors, a young pair struggling to make their relationship work. When Bianca, a new teacher at the local high school, enters his life, Michele finds himself falling in love. At the same time, a string of murders rocks the neighborhood, casting suspicion on him.
Nanni Moretti's Bianca is a singular, deeply personal work that blends neurotic character study, dark comedy, and murder mystery in a way that feels entirely its own. The plot is genuinely inventive — Michele's obsessive surveillance of couples, his rigid moral codes, and the encroaching murder mystery interweave with unsettling precision, building to a revelation that recontextualizes everything. Novelty is high because the film's tone is unmistakably Moretti's: sardonic, self-lacerating, and strange in a way no other filmmaker quite replicates. Acting is solid with Moretti commanding the screen in his semi-autobiographical role, though supporting players are more functional than remarkable. Cinematography is competent and serves the story without being visually distinguished. The ending is effective and thematically resonant but not quite as striking as the film's best moments earlier on.