Ciao Bambino
A 19-year-old boy from a working-class neighbourhood in Naples is assigned to protect an Eastern-European prostitute—and his father’s debts soon force him to choose between his burgeoning love and his father’s demands.
DIRECTOR
Edgardo Pistone
actors
1h 40m • Rated TBC • Drama • Italy
Marco Adamo • Anastasiia Kaletchuk • Luciano Pistone • Pasquale Esposito • Salvatore Pelliccia
Many critics highlight the film’s empathy and moral complexity. While it confronts exploitation, violence, and family corruption, it also reveals flashes of hope and humanity in unlikely places. Pistone avoids moralising, instead portraying survival as an act of love in itself. Some note that the film’s pacing falters in its final act, but most agree that its emotional honesty and cinematic boldness mark Pistone as an important new Italian voice—a filmmaker attuned to the poetry and pain of ordinary lives.
CRITICS ROUNDUP
A raw, compassionate portrait of lost youth
Critics have lauded Ciao Bambino as a striking debut that captures the tension between tenderness and brutality in the lives of Naples’ forgotten generation. Edgardo Pistone’s direction combines realism with dreamlike flourishes, creating a world that feels both intimate and volatile. Reviewers praise Marco Adamo’s magnetic performance as a young man torn between duty and desire, bringing aching vulnerability to a character shaped by poverty and guilt. The film’s visual style—grainy light, restless camera work, and bursts of colour—mirrors the uncertainty and energy of adolescence.