Modalità aereo (2019)

Modalità aereo takes a familiar modern fear—your whole life trapped inside a smartphone—and turns it into a brisk, good-natured comedy with real snap in its timing. Fausto Brizzi keeps the tone light and lively even as the situation spirals, letting the humor come from social chaos, mistaken moves, and the delicious discomfort of watching a cocky man lose the one thing he thinks he controls. Paolo Ruffini plays Diego with just enough swagger to make the comeuppance satisfying, while Lillo Petrolo brings verve and comic precision to the mayhem unfolding offscreen. It won’t convert you if you dislike broad, premise-driven Italian farce, but if you’re in the mood for energetic laughs and a timely poke at our phone-addicted egos, it’s an easy, entertaining watch.

Modalità aereo is aiming for a modern morality comedy about a smug, phone-addicted businessman getting a much-needed reality check when his life is hijacked through the device he can’t live without. The problem is the setup is funnier than the follow-through: a lot of the humor leans on broad, sitcom-style chaos and convenient coincidences, so if you need sharp writing or believable escalation, you’ll feel your patience being tested. Paolo Ruffini sells the obnoxious lead well enough and there are a few satisfying payback beats, but the film often mistakes noise for wit and the “lesson learned” arc can feel a bit prepackaged. If you like light Italian comedies built on comeuppance and social-media mayhem, you’ll be fine; if you’re after clever satire or a tighter script, this probably isn’t your flight.