''The Life Ahead'' () is a 2020

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Edoardo Ponti, from a screenplay by Ponti and Ugo Chiti. It is the third screen adaptation of the 1975 novel '' The Life Before Us'' by

Romain Gary Romain Gary (; 2 December 1980), born Roman Kacew () and also known by the pen name Émile Ajar, was a French novelist, diplomat, film director, and World War II aviator. He is the only author to have won the Prix Goncourt twice (once under a ps ...

. It stars

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress, active in her native country and the United States. With a career spanning over 70 years, she is one of the ...

, Ibrahim Gueye and Abril Zamora, and is set in

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

, Italy. The film was preceded by '' Madame Rosa'', a 1977 film based on the Gary novel, directed by

Moshé Mizrahi Moshé Mizrahi (; 5 September 1931 – 3 August 2018) was an Israeli film director. Biography He was born in Egypt, migrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1946, and studied filmmaking in France in 1950. He directed the Oscar-winning 1977 film '' Mad ...

and featuring

Simone Signoret Simone Signoret (; born Simone Henriette Charlotte Kaminker; 25 March 1921 – 30 September 1985) was a French actress. She received various accolades, including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, a César Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and ...

. Like the book, the first film version is set in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. ''The Life Ahead'' was given a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

on November 6, 2020, followed by digital streaming on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on November 13.

Plot

Madam Rosa is a former prostitute and Jewish

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, its collaborators before and during World War II ...

who provides a home in her apartment for the children of other "working women" in the Italian port city of

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

. After Momo, a 12-year-old, orphaned,

Senegalese Demographic features of the population of Senegal include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. About 42% of Senegal's population i ...

immigrant, robs her, Dr. Coen, the boy's foster guardian, who also happens to be Rosa's doctor, brings her stolen items back and makes the boy apologize. Coen offers Rosa money to take in the boy and look after him for a couple of months, and she reluctantly agrees. Momo, who has been kicked out of school for stabbing a bully with a pencil, secretly sells drugs for a dealer in Bari, but Rosa also finds him work with Hamil, a kind

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

shopkeeper. All of these adults try to guide the boy. Rosa's neighbor and friend Lola, a transgender prostitute, whose daughter Rosa looks after, helps Rosa as she begins to decline mentally. At times she is lucid while at others she is

catatonic Catatonia is a complex syndrome most commonly seen in people with underlying mood disorders, such as major depressive disorder, or psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia. People with catatonia exhibit abnormal movement and behaviors, wh ...

. Rosa and Momo develop a deep bond, and after he becomes her only ward, he quits selling drugs. Although her health is declining, Rosa asks Momo to promise to keep her out of hospitals, of which she is terrified since being medically experimented on as a child in the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

. Momo agrees and promises, but Rosa is finally taken to the hospital after a particularly bad episode. Momo sneaks her out of the hospital at night and hides her in a basement storage room in her apartment building, where she feels safe. Momo stays there with Rosa, caring for her until she dies. Afterwards, Lola finally discovers their secret. The film ends with Rosa's funeral.

Cast

as Madame Rosa * Ibrahim Gueye as Momo * Abril Zamora as Lola * Renato Carpentieri as Dr. Coen * Babak Karimi as Hamil * Massimiliano Rossi as drug dealer

Production

In July 2019, it was announced that

, Ibrahaim Gueye, Abril Zamora, Renato Carpentieri and Babak Karimi had joined the cast of the film, with Edoardo Ponti directing from a screenplay he wrote alongside Ugo Chiti, based upon the novel '' The Life Before Us'' by

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began in July 2019 in

, Italy.

Release

In February 2020,

acquired worldwide distribution rights to the film. It was released in a

on November 6, 2020, followed by digital streaming on

on November 13, 2020. According to Deadline, ''The Life Ahead'' became a streaming hit, peaking within Netflix's top ten in 37 countries.

Reception

Critical response

''The Life Ahead'' holds approval rating on review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, based on reviews, with an average of . The site's critical consensus reads: "A classic example of how a talented actor can elevate somewhat standard material, ''The Life Ahead'' proves Sophia Loren's star power remains absolutely undimmed." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film holds a rating of 66 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. In a three-starred review for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'',

Mark Kermode Mark Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter, author and podcaster. He is the co-presenter (with Ellen E. Jones) of the BBC Radio 4 programme ''Screenshot'', and co-presenter ...

said of Sophia Loren: "The 86-year-old star’s expressive performance as a former sex worker caring for an orphaned child is the main draw in this sometimes formulaic tale directed by her son." P.J. Grisar of ''

The Forward ''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...

'' was critical in his review, calling the film "treacly," "derivative," and "clichéd" when compared with the 1977 film '' Madame Rosa'', its "nuanced and celebrated predecessor." He calls Loren's performance "sturdy" and Ponti’s direction "capable," but describes ''The Life Ahead'' as a "wan exercise, free of humor or verve."

Accolades

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Life Ahead 2020 films 2020 drama films 2020s American films 2020s Italian films 2020s Italian-language films American drama films Films based on French novels Films based on works by Romain Gary Films set in Bari Italian drama films Italian remakes of French films Netflix original films Palomar films Satellite Award–winning films