The Family Friend

Following the deserved success of The Consequences of Love, director Sorrentino has created an intriguing black comedy that captures the same visual flair, twisted morality and sly, oblique plotting of the earlier film. And at its centre is Giacomo Rizzo’s delightfully sleazy, ambivalent portrait of an ageing money-lender with an eye for poor brides-to-be, giving this Italian satire all the kick of a Jacobean drama. The Family Friend is further embellished by a first-rate soundtrack from Teho Teardo and Luca Bigazzi’s luminous cinematography.