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Summary From Academy Award-winning writer and director Paolo Sorrentino (Il Divo, The Great Beauty, The Young Pope), comes the story of a boy, Fabietto Schisa, in the tumultuous Naples of the 1980s. The Hand of God is a story full of unexpected joys, such as the arrival of football legend Diego Maradona, and an equally unexpected tragedy. Fate p...
Directed By: Paolo Sorrentino
Written By: Paolo Sorrentino
The Hand of God
76
7.5
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Summary From Academy Award-winning writer and director Paolo Sorrentino (Il Divo, The Great Beauty, The Young Pope), comes the story of a boy, Fabietto Schisa, in the tumultuous Naples of the 1980s. The Hand of God is a story full of unexpected joys, such as the arrival of football legend Diego Maradona, and an equally unexpected tragedy. Fate p...
Directed By: Paolo Sorrentino
Written By: Paolo Sorrentino
Where to Watch
Coming Soon
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 36 Critic Reviews
76
81% Positive
29 Reviews
29 Reviews
19% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 36 Critic Reviews
76
81% Positive
29 Reviews
29 Reviews
19% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Sep 2, 2021
It’s the work of a director in full command of his gifts, from the kaleidoscopic vignettes of family life that make the first half such a constant delight through the supple modulation of tone midway, when shocking tragedy prompts a shift into a more ruminative mood.
Dec 9, 2021
It’s a personal, aching, and romantic film that’s swimming in the complicated trials of youth.
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 77 User Ratings
7.5
83% Positive
64 Ratings
64 Ratings
10% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
6% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 77 User Ratings
7.5
83% Positive
64 Ratings
64 Ratings
10% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
6% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
Sep 10, 2025
"La realtà non mi piace più. La realtà è scadente. Ecco perché voglio fare il cinema." E stata la mano di Dio - Sorrentino made me feel so ineffably sad and fragile once again The views of 1980s Napoli, its glimmering dazing lights, summer sunset sinking in the water with a flick of hope - la speranza è una trappola, and I'm here falling into this trap with all of my nonchalance La mano di Dio is about getting on a train and knowing only what you've left behind with no idea about what awaits you, about riding Vespa with wind in your hair, about letting go, about jumping in the black night sea with your eyes wide open and not being afraid. It's about escaping reality and embracing it at the same time and I think talict wonderful Because in the end -" voglio pensare un po' all Felicità”
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Jan 11, 2022
Confessions of love to cinema are always difficult to film. Vittorio and Paolo Taviani (Fiorile), Baaria (Giuseppe Tornatore), Amarcord (Federico Fellini). And there are many, many more authors, directors and films to whom he pays homage with respect and love. Paolo Sorrentino goes beyond Fellini and Tornatore. He looks to the future. He confesses his love for cinema, his beloved city and his heroes. They will have to build the future. What will it be? each has its own. This film reminded me of something like “Lavoura Arcaica” (Director Luiz Fernando Carvalho). The old stay, the young seek happiness far from themselves. But you can't leave yourself anywhere. This is the future - to find yourself in your hometown, in your homeland. Even emigrating to another city will never forgive your hometown. Made with love.
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Dec 3, 2021
The film is bawdy and wistful, with a rich vein of melancholy running through it.
Sep 2, 2021
The boisterousness remains, as does the unreconstructed maleness that has often been a jarring mannerism in his work. But new intimacy also yields a lightness and tenderness that are a welcome addition to Sorrentino’s palette.
Dec 7, 2021
There is something magical in Sorrentino’s tender, flawed familial portrait that risks social taboos. I’d rather watch something beautiful and dumb vying for real emotional truth than the woke-est and most sanitized cinema, which only wants my approval. The Hand of God is a sprawling, gorgeous mess, but one you can’t look away from – and it might just break your heart.
Sep 2, 2021
The Hand of God, no surprise, is Sorrentino’s most nakedly personal film to date, almost to a fault in the way it jettisons the cool distance of The Great Beauty or Il Divo in favour of a sweaty, close-up evocation of youth. It’s a picture only Sorrentino could make. But that doesn’t necessarily make him the safest pair of hands.
Sep 2, 2021
It might be hoped that the passage of time could give him some fond or melancholy distance from such material, but Sorrentino serves up his memories in an unappealingly inert and flat manner.
Dec 28, 2021
It's a very very good movie and in fact i wanted more, The Hand Of God is a very great intimate representation of Paolo Sorrentino's life, it's strongly perform, it's beautifully well shot and composed, and it's a really well written story, The Hand Of God is a personal movie, but it's a very good one that everybody must go to see it, it's one of the best films of the year.
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Dec 12, 2021
The Hand of God is Paolo Sorrentino's best. Netflix is good for making this accessible worldwide..
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Dec 17, 2021
Italian writer/director Paolo Sorrentino won an Oscar for The Great Beauty in 2014. This film focuses on his own adolescence in 80s Naples. Instead of a linear narrative, there are slice-of-life moments that portray his love of family, his admiration of Argentine soccer player Diego Maradona and his discovery of cinema. Sorrentino’s style may be familiar to lovers of Italian films: lingering shots of people and places, disjointed scenes, deliberate pacing and attractive cinematography. It’s a sweet story with eccentric supporting characters that border on Fellini (who’s also referenced in the film). Foreign film lovers may find it charming (this is Italy’s nomination for this year), but anyone expecting a fast-paced, plot-driven American style will likely be disappointed.
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Production Company
- The Apartment
- Netflix
- Regione Campania
- Film Commission Regione Campania
Release Date Dec 3, 2021
Duration 2 h 10 m
Rating R
Genres
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Nomination
CinEuphoria Awards
• 4 Wins & 17 Nominations
