Italian Studies (2022)

Italian Studies is the kind of film that doesn’t just tell a story so much as slip you into a state of mind, turning Manhattan into a glowing, nocturnal dream you can almost feel on your skin. Vanessa Kirby is mesmerizing in a performance that’s both unguarded and magnetic, pulling you along as the movie drifts through chance encounters and teen-lit energy with an eerie, intimate calm. The craft is quietly confident—sound, light, and street-level texture working together to create an immersive experience that lingers like a half-remembered night. It won’t be for viewers who need clean answers and firm plot rails, but if you’re open to cinema as mood, mystery, and emotional gravity, it’s absolutely worth the walk.

Italian Studies is clearly aiming for a dreamy, late-night Manhattan mood piece about identity slipping away and being rebuilt through strange connections, and it does capture a certain hazy, in-the-moment atmosphere. The problem is it often feels more like a collection of fragments than a story, circling the same beats with an intentionally confusing, aimless drift that can start to feel repetitive. If you need a clear narrative, character grounding, or any real payoff to the premise, this will likely test your patience and may feel longer than it is. But if you enjoy impressionistic films that prioritize vibe over answers, there are pockets of beauty and intrigue worth catching.