| Perfect Strangers | |
| Native Name: | |
| Director: | Paolo Genovese |
| Story: | Paolo Genovese |
| Producer: | Marco Belardi |
| Cinematography: | Fabrizio Lucci |
| Editing: | Consuelo Catucci |
| Music: | Maurizio Filardo |
| Distributor: | Medusa Distribuzione |
| Runtime: | 97 minutes |
| Country: | Italy |
| Language: | Italian |
| Gross: | $32.2 million[1] |
Perfect Strangers (it|Perfetti sconosciuti[2] pronounced as /it/) is a 2016 Italian comedy-drama film directed and co-written by Paolo Genovese.[3] [4] It was released in Italy on 11 February 2016.[4]
The film was a critical and commercial success, winning the David di Donatello in the Best Film Category and grossing more than €16 million in Italy. It has been remade more than 20 times.
On the evening of a total eclipse of the moon, seven close friends gather for a dinner party. Early in the meal, one of the friends, a relationship therapist named Eva, says that she is convinced that many couples would separate if they saw the messages on each other's phones. As the friends debate this contention, they agree—some of them reluctantly—to play a game. They will each place their phone on the table and they will share their messages and calls with the rest of the group.
At first, the game seems harmless; no one has anything to hide. Gradually, the calls and messages become more compromising. They reveal that one married woman is having an affair and that a man who has been pretending to have an absent girlfriend is not who he seems. As the calls continue, the network of lies and secrets becomes increasingly tangled. Almost no one at the table is spared. By the end of the night, the group's friendships, marriages, and romances have been shattered.[5]
As the guests leave the apartment, they behave as if nothing has happened. Each of their relationships are exactly as they were at the start of the evening. The game never happened, and everybody goes back to their own lives.
The film was number-one on its opening week in Italy, with .[3] It grossed $31.6 million at the box office.
On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 77% based on reviews from 13 critics, and an average rating of 6.7/10.
| Year | Award/Festival | Category | Recipients | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | David di Donatello | Best Film | Paolo Genovese | ||
| Best Director | Paolo Genovese | ||||
| Best Script | Paolo Genovese, Filippo Bologna, Paolo Costella, Paola Mammini, Rolando Ravello | ||||
| Best Actress | Anna Foglietta | ||||
| Best Actor | Marco Giallini | ||||
| Best Actor | Valerio Mastandrea | ||||
| Best Original Song | Perfetti sconosciuti by Bungaro, Cesare Chiodo and Fiorella Mannoia | ||||
| Best Editing | Consuelo Catucci | ||||
| Best Sound | Umberto Montesanti | ||||
| 2016 | Bari International Film Festival | Tonino Guerra Award for Best Scriptment | Paolo Genovese | ||
| 2016 | Tribeca Film Festival | Best Screenplay | Paolo Genovese, Filippo Bologna, Paolo Costella, Paola Mammini, Rolando Ravello | ||
| 2017 | Vilnius International Film Festival | Audience's Favourite Film[6] | Paolo Genovese |
| Country | Original title | English title | data-sort-type="date" | Release date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greece | Greek, Modern (1453-);: Τέλειοι Ξένοι | Perfect Strangers | 15 December 2016 | [7] | |
| Spain | Spanish; Castilian: Perfectos desconocidos | Perfect Strangers | 1 December 2017 | Directed by Álex de la Iglesia.[8] | |
| Turkey | Turkish: Cebimdeki Yabancı | 2 February 2018 | [9] | ||
| France | French: Le Jeu | Nothing to Hide | 17 October 2018 | Directed by Fred Cavayé.[10] | |
| South Korea | Korean: 완벽한 타인 | Intimate Strangers | 31 October 2018 | [11] | |
| Hungary | Hungarian: BÚÉK | 6 December 2018 | Directed by Krisztina Goda.[12] | ||
| Mexico | Spanish; Castilian: Perfectos desconocidos | Perfect Strangers | 25 December 2018 | [13] | |
| China | Chinese: 来电狂响 | 29 December 2018 | [14] | ||
| Russia | Russian: Громкая связь | Loud Connection | 14 February 2019 | [15] A sequel, Obratnaya svyaz, was released in 2020.[16] | |
| Armenia | Armenian: Անհայտ բաժանորդ | 5 September 2019 | [17] | ||
| Poland | Polish: [[:pl:(Nie)znajomi|(Nie)znajomi]] | 16 September 2019 | [18] | ||
| Germany | German: [[:de:Das perfekte Geheimnis|Das perfekte Geheimnis]] | 31 October 2019 | [19] | ||
| Vietnam | Vietnamese: Tiệc trăng máu | 23 October 2020 | [20] | ||
| Japan | Japanese: [[:ja:おとなの事情 スマホをのぞいたら|おとなの事情 スマホをのぞいたら]] | 8 January 2021 | [21] | ||
| Slovakia, Czech Republic | Slovak: [[:sk:Známi neznámi|Známi neznámi]] | 5 August 2021 | [22] | ||
| Romania | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: Complet necunoscuți | [23] | 24 September 2021 | [24] | |
| Netherlands | Dutch; Flemish: Alles op tafel | 4 November 2021 | [25] | ||
| Israel | Hebrew: זרים מושלמים | 11 November 2021 | Directed by Lior Ashkenazi.[26] | ||
| Egypt, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates | Arabic: أصحاب ...ولا أعزّ | Perfect Strangers | 20 January 2022 | Released by Netflix.[27] | |
| Norway | 25 February 2022 | [28] | |||
| Indonesia | 20 October 2022 | Released by Amazon Prime Video.[29] | |||
| Azerbaijan | Azerbaijani: Geri dönənlər | 28 December 2022 | [30] | ||
| Iceland | Icelandic: Villibráð | Wild Game | 6 January 2023[31] | [32] | |
| Denmark, Iceland | Danish: Hygge! | 26 October 2023 | [33] | ||
| India | Khel Khel Mein | 15 August 2024 | [34] | ||
In February 2017, The Weinstein Company acquired the rights to an English-language remake.[36] In December 2019, Issa Rae was announced to write, star in, and produce the US remake with Spyglass Media Group, a subsidiary of Lantern Entertainment, which acquired the assets of The Weinstein Company after its bankruptcy.[37] In December 2023, producer Tarak Ben Ammar revealed that his Eagle Pictures was working on the remake with Italian filmmaker Carlo Carlei set to direct the film. Rae was no longer attached to star.[38]
Having been remade 24 times, the film was recognized as the most remade film in Guinness World Records.[39]
The Indian films Loudspeaker (2018) and 12th Man (2022) have been accused to have plagiarised Perfect Strangers.[40] [41] 1001 Nunakal (2022) was inspired by Perfect Strangers.[42]
A number of Spanish-language stage adaptations of Perfect Strangers have been produced. An Argentine adaptation directed by Guillermo Francella premiered in March 2018.[43] A Spanish version adapted by David Serrano and Daniel Guzmán and directed by Guzmán premiered on 26 September 2018.[44] A Uruguayan production premiered in April 2019.[45] A Peruvian adaptation premiered on 9 October 2019.[46] A Mexican production premiered in November 2019.[47] A Colombian production premiered in March 2022.[48]
An Israeli adaptation opened at the Habima Theatre on 22 November 2018.[49] Two Slovene adaptations opened in 2019 and 2023, respectively.[50] [51]
An Italian adaptation, directed by Genovese himself, in his theatrical debut, premiered on 10 February 2023.[52] [53]
An English-language adaptation written and directed by Robert O'Hara, titled Shit. Meet. Fan., premiered off-Broadway at MCC Theater on 10 October 2024.[54]