The Story:
The Invisible Thread is an Italian film made for Netflix. It’s about a high school boy, Leone (Francesco Gheghi), who was raised by two fathers, Paolo and Simone (Filippo Timi and Francesco Scianna), and realizes that his seemingly perfect family has flaws. It opens with Leone and his friend Jacopo (Emanuele Maria Di Stefano) making a documentary on Leone’s family that gives us the backstory of his family. It also explains how Tilly, Paolo and Simone’s close friend, was the surrogate mother, and explains the legal hurdles the couple went through to get and maintain custody of Leone.
Once the backstory is told, the present story starts with Leone being interested in Anna, a new girl whose family moved to Italy from France. Anna is popular with the other students, so Jacopo doubts she would be interested in Leone. When Leone and Jacopo are invited to a party only because Jacopo is a drug dealer, they decide to go. Leone runs into Anna at the party, they talk and become friendly.
While Leone is at the party, Paolo is home alone and hears Simone’s phone ringing and finds it stuck between the sofa cushions. He pulls it out and discovers that Simone has been cheating on him with another man for two years. It’s the day before their twentieth anniversary and, not knowing what to do, holds his pain and anger inside. That night, when Simone asks Paolo if he’s seen his phone, Paolo says that he hasn’t.
Wanting to see Anna again soon, Leone invites her to their house for the twentieth anniversary gathering and the drama ramps up. Things come to a head during the anniversary dinner, when Simone’s secret lover shows up at the door wanting to know why Simone isn’t returning his calls. The blowup is hysterical and believable.
From here the story plays out like every other film with a couple in the throes of divorce. The only difference is that Paolo and Simone used both their sperm to inseminate Tilly and never did a DNA test to see who Leone’s biological father was. There’s also a bit about how people assume Leone is gay because he has two dads, which is something I can see happening.
Final Thoughts:
The Invisible Thread is a fun romp with very little to make it stand out. The acting is decent, and Marco Simon Puccioni did a decent job directing. Although The Invisible Thread is promoted as a comedy drama, the comedy parts are more amusing than funny. I would classify this as a light drama with a made for TV feel.
