Running a breezy ninety minutes, Michelle Danner’s The Italians is a sunny, pasta‑splattered culture‑clash comedy that owes more than a little to Meet the Parents and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It opened quietly in theaters earlier this year. The Italians had a modest theatrical release in early 2025, primarily targeting the comedy and family film audience. It was positioned as counter-programming to the bigger action and superhero films of the season, finding its niche with audiences looking for lighter fare.

Let’s talk about The Italians

Matriarch Angelina Ricci (Danner) and her restaurateur husband Vincenzo (Rob Estes) keep tight, saucy control of the family orbit. When their doctor son Nico (Matthew Daddario) brings home new girlfriend Lily (Abigail Breslin)—a vegetarian who isn’t Italian and has little patience for Catholic guilt—the weekend family gathering tips into full‑scale farce. Disapproving relatives drop in, wine goes flying, and competing kitchen philosophies turn dinner prep into battlefield choreography. Adding spice: Lainie Kazan as meddlesome Zia Sofia, David DeLuise as Nico’s dim but lovable cousin, and Perrey Reeves as Lily’s zen‑minded mother who swoops in mid‑feast.

Production design turns the Ricci home into a sensory map of heritage: family crest above the doorway, heirloom copper pots, a wall of framed baptism photos. The clutter feels lived‑in rather than stage‑dressed. Throw in a backyard grape‑stomping barrel repurposed as a drinks cooler, and you get instant cultural shorthand.

So…tell me about the script

Lisa Phillips Visca’s screenplay leans unapologetically into broad stereotypes—endless food, louder-than-life debates about tradition, and an inevitable family soccer match on the front lawn—but the cast’s commitment sells the schmaltz. Danner and Estes strike a fun rhythm of marital bickering; Breslin plays flustered straight-woman without sliding into caricature; and Daddario gets solid mileage out of Nico’s desperate attempts to keep both families civil.

What we thought

“The Italians” isn’t reinventing the wheel of culture-clash comedies, but it doesn’t need to. It’s predictable comfort food, yet earnest enough to land its theme about choosing love over rigid expectations. The film maintains a breezy pace throughout its 90-minute runtime, never overstaying its welcome or dragging out its setpieces beyond their natural conclusion.

Fans of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”-style comfort comedies—or anyone who grew up with an opinionated Nonna—will find enough here to justify a watch… preferably with a plate of rigatoni within arm’s reach.

The film’s heart-on-its-sleeve affection for family—messy, overbearing, unconditional—gives it a pleasant Sunday-dinner vibe that overcomes its formulaic elements.

Let’s wrap up those thoughts

Angelina sees assimilation as erosion; Lily sees adaptation as survival. Vincenzo straddles the fence—willing to modernize the menu yet reluctant to offend his mother’s spirit. The film critiques rigid gatekeeping while acknowledging cultural loss can sting. Every major emotional shift happens over a plate: Lily’s vegetarian pasta primavera becomes a peace offering; Nico’s homemade tiramisu doubles as an engagement ring hiding place. Dialogue floats, but ingredients speak louder.

Yes, it’s another movie about how food is an analogy for life. You’ve heard it before and The Italians doesn’t reinvent the wheel. But, it goes out of its way to try to be funny and not talk down to audiences. Our typicals might not enjoy it, but they also don’t watch most of streaming.

It’s the kind of movie that used to keep Redbox afloat and now The Italians will more than likely have to fight to get attention in a crowded marketplace. Which is a shame, as it is amazingly solid.

The Italians is now playing