Rome today: the Eternal City is surrounded by wildfires. In the centre, ravaged by corruption and violence, three old gangsters unite their last energies to save a boy that has failed the wrong person.

Directed by the virtuoso hands of Stefano Sollima (Sicario: Day of the Soldado, 2018; Suburra, 2015 ), in a dry and merciless style, Adagio is a cinematic dive in the criminal heart of Italy. It portrays the end of one mafia era and the rise of a new, implacable one. Our protagonists are what is left of La Banda della Magliana, a historical (and real) criminal organisation that held Rome in its grasp for decades. The last survivors of the gang are close to an inglorious end. But they will not resist the call of the past, and slowly but surely they will revive their raging force. 

With an all-star cast, featuring Pierfrancesco Savino, Toni Servillo, Valerio Mastrandrea and a young and talented Adriano Giannini, Adagio narrates clashes between different generations of criminals. But foremostly Adagio is a snapshot of a hellish Rome, burning for its endless sins. A theatre of a human tragedy that seems doomed to repeat itself.

– Rebecca De Pas