The Hand of God (2021) Reviews

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seemed to be another critical success from Paolo Sorrentino and since it was available on Netflix, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, I have to admit that, even though I do admire Sorrentino's work, I have never been a huge fan though and, once again, I did end up with a similar feeling after watching this last directorial effort. I mean, as usual with Sorrentino, the damned thing was visually really strong, especially the opening scenes, and the guy always provides a fairly mesmerizing mood. Furthermore, I have to admit that the beginning was actually quite hilarious, even if I did have a hard time to keep track of all the characters involved and what was actually going on. Unfortunately, they didn’t keep up this energy much longer and the rest of the movie was then intriguing but, to be honest, not much more than that. There was also the issue of the main character, obviously based on Sorrentino himself. I mean, afterwards, I understand that the guy was someone who was more an observer, noticing all kinds of interesting and odd things about anyone crossing his path which eventually will be really helpful when he would become a film director at some point. However, even if I did appreciate the fact that Sorrentino made sure that this younger version of himself was not displayed as some kind of genius, it did backfire since he was really passive and not really fascinating after all. Furthermore, his aspiration of becoming a film director completely came out of the blue and I think it was the first time I saw someone dreaming of becoming a film maker who had actually watched so very few movies (a fact acknowledged by the character himself). The fact that the guy would eventually become one of the most heralded Italian directors was even more frustrating, at least, to me who has watched more than 6000 movies so far. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t completely win me over, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Paolo Sorrentino’s work.