In cinemas from 2026 February 5, in over 300 theaters across Italy.
To understand the background of the film, one only needs to look at the poster. A photograph of an Italy that once was, and perhaps no longer exists. Colorful curtains at the window. A decorated clay amphora used to pour water into a basin. A Persian rug, a green Japanese lampshade, the overall interior design of the 1960s and 1970s. Four men seated, almost lost in emptiness.
Albanese, director and lead actor alongside Giuseppe Battiston, Nicola Rignanese and Niccolò Ferrero, sets the story in the countryside, precisely in the house overlooking his beloved Lake Orta. In that large house, reminiscent of a theatrical stage, daring and tragic actions unfold with comic twists, dynamic and explosive. Almost a thriller, yet told with tenderness, sweetness, and then bitterness, complex and challenging. And in the end you ask yourself: “What is the plan? What is it?” as Albanese says.
Perhaps the real beauty lies here: the four men had no plan at all. The story flows along unexpected paths. As Albanese himself states: “Comedy is one of the hardest things ever. It is mysterious. I like to search and keep searching.” Battiston echoes him: “Comedy is a mystery. But it is also a science.” Speaking of his character, he adds: “It was a privilege to make my character believable. He is naive. He is defeated. Antonio was an important director on set.” Even more peculiar is the role played by Nicola Rignanese, who says: “I played a mad character. The crazier he is, the more normal he becomes.” And then there is Niccolò Ferrero, who plays Albanese’s son in the film. He is the “handsome one”, the one who understands.
The film takes the shape of a story about true, sincere friendship, set against a society that is increasingly individualistic and lonely. The four are not a pack searching for direction, but a group of friends. Genuine solidarity, where what appears to be cowardice turns into purity.
In one word, this is a delightful film. Almost on the lakeshore of a potential masterpiece of comic and tragicomic cinema, never predictable. Good news for Italian cinema, Albanese concludes: “Seeing people in theaters makes me very happy. Cinema is like pizza, I always love it!”
Lavoreremo da Grandi is written by Antonio Albanese and Piero Guerrera. Cinematography is by Italo Petriccione, editing by Davide Miele, original music by Giovanni Sollima, production design by Marco Belluzzi and Anna Ranci Ortigosa, costumes by Carola Fenocchio, and casting by Valentina Materiale.
With
ANTONIO ALBANESE, GIUSEPPE BATTISTON, NICOLA RIGNANESE, NICCOLÒ FERRERO
SYNOPSIS
Three friends, Beppe, Umberto and Gigi, are waiting for the arrival of young Toni to celebrate his regained freedom. Umberto is a failed musician who has run his father’s business into the ground and already has two divorces behind him. Gigi has just been disinherited by his aunt, is drunk, and wears one of her old wigs as an act of protest. Beppe has a very overbearing mother, works as a plumber, and claims he has never had a girlfriend. Toni, Umberto’s son, is an overly sharp young man who moves in and out of prison for minor offenses. In other words, the most mismatched of groups, set within an unchanging microcosm, against the jarring splendor of a lake.
But something is about to happen. A cataclysm with shocking and hilarious consequences. After a heavily alcohol-fueled evening at the village bar, the car they are about to take home hits something. Or rather, someone. Triggering a series of relentless wrong choices, the four flee and take refuge in Umberto’s house. What follows is a long night of twists and turns, paradoxical and ridiculous situations, encounters and clashes between the protagonists and other unlikely figures who populate that endless day. Until the most unimaginable of solutions arrives at the first light of dawn.
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