Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
The film tells the story of the Michelucci family, from the nineteen-seventies to the present day: the central character is the stunningly beautiful Anna, the lively, frivolous and sometimes embarrassing mother of Bruno and Valeria. Everything begins in the Summer of 1971, at the annual Summer beauty pageant held at Livorno’s most popular bathing establishment. Anna is unexpectedly crowned “Most Beautiful Mother”, unwittingly stirring the violent jealousy of her husband. From then on, chaos strikes the family and for Anna, Bruno and his sister Valeria, it is the start of an adventure that will only end thirty years later.
The First Beautiful Thing is a warmly received Italian family drama anchored by strong performances, particularly from the lead cast navigating the story across multiple time periods. The plot follows a fairly familiar arc of a dysfunctional family shaped by a larger-than-life mother figure, hitting recognizable beats of nostalgia, regret, and reconciliation. The acting is a genuine standout, with Monica Bellucci and Valerio Mastandrea delivering emotionally layered work. Cinematography is competent and period-appropriate without being visually distinctive. The film's conception — spanning decades through the lens of a beauty queen mother — has warmth and specificity but doesn't radically distinguish itself from other Italian family melodramas. The ending resolves the emotional threads satisfyingly if somewhat conventionally.