Name: Malamore
Genre: Drama
Released: 2025-05-08
Duration: 1 h 47 min
Rating: 4.3
Cast: Giulia Schiavo, Simone Susinna, Antonella Carone

Trying hard to cash in with repercussion of "365 Days" franchise by heavily promoting one of its stars, the hunk Simone Susinna, "Malamore" ("Toxic Love") doesn't offer the thrills, the sexual intensity, neither a wildly romantic fantasy. Sorry to break some hearts, but don't walk into it thinking you're gonna get more of the same. It's a different game with some small similarities.

Here's another tale of a beautiful woman trapped in a bad relationship with a criminal, finding real love with a gentleman who treats her with care and respect, and the criminal element is surrounded with power, money and violence to shake things up. Every possible cliche from the book is used, yet nothing works, basically.

The main problem comes from the screenplay, a catastrophic mess that relies a lot on the past of the characters without showing what actually happened to them to be in the situation given, and as the story moves forward with potential danger coming from many sources, we have to keep putting the pieces of a past puzzle that not only is confusing but also very dull.

But here's what I got: Mary (Giulia Schiavo) is involved with Nunzio (Sussina), a powerful drug dealer who's imprisoned but soon to get released. In the very first scene, they're having sex but her face tells everything you need to know. She wants out, but keeps visiting him. Apparently he loves her, but he also happens to have a wife (Antonella Carone), who runs his business while he's in jail and he only keeps this marriage so he can have an heir. The big turn of events comes when Mary meets a charming veterinarian (Simon Grechi) hired to take care of her horses, and he likes her right away. You probably know where this is headed, add to the formula an important criminal activity parallel to that and boom goes the dynamite. Not quite.

The criminal activity gets quite distracting as Nunzio people don't face enemies, just some problems with people they're trying to buy. The main issue revolves on Mary making a decision if she can ever leave the bad guy and stick with the good one without anyone suffering consequences. And we have a helpful character in the form of Michele (Antonio Orlando), a childhood friend of her who also works for Nunzio, and desperatly tries to mediate things. Maybe there was some translation problem or the script but apparently he's the one who introduced Nunzio to her and the affair began. We don't see that moment. Later, she keeps on reflecting on the tragic death of her parents, apparently blamed on the man. I don't understand why the sentiment of revenge wasn't a thing for her.

Anyway, there's only two things worth seeing: the friendship between Michele and Mary - but you can sense that in a different reality he'd be the real boyfriend of hers; and Simone Susinna's presence as you can see a different side of him, playing a darker character as opposed to what he did in the "365 Days" sequels, as a seductive, charming type. But you might get bored after a while with his bad boy expressions in practically every scene.

Speaking of those other movies (of which I admit a certain guilty pleasure), the scheme of sex scenes played against awful songs is copied but done in a cringe manner.

A lesson to be learned with "Malamore": check better your potential partners; criminal types can be seductive but it's a life with no future; as for audiences, just say "No" to this "movie", despite the pretty faces displayed - hot action is very little there. 3/10.

Italian cinema has deeply influenced world cinema through its socially conscious realism and modernist experimentation, but it also flourished in popular genres like peplum (sword & sandal), giallo thrillers, and broad comedies. Its narratives often weave together politics, contemporary social change, class consciousness, and family dynamics, balancing artistic ambition with entertainment that resonated widely.

Lamberto Maggiorani in Bicycle Thieves (1948)

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)

Mary, trapped in a relationship with criminal Nunzio in southern Italy, finds strength through her affair with riding instructor Giulio. Despite her friend Michele's warnings, she chooses love, triggering Nunzio's vengeful rage.

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Malamore

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