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Perfect Strangers
Theatrical release poster
Italian	Perfetti sconosciuti
Directed by	Paolo Genovese
Screenplay by	Filippo Bologna Paolo Costella Paolo Genovese Paola Mammini Rolando Ravello
Story by	Paolo Genovese
Produced by	Marco Belardi
Starring	Giuseppe Battiston Anna Foglietta Marco Giallini Edoardo Leo Valerio Mastandrea Alba Rohrwacher Kasia Smutniak
Cinematography	Fabrizio Lucci
Edited by	Consuelo Catucci
Music by	Maurizio Filardo
Production companies	Medusa Film Lotus Production
Distributed by	Medusa Distribuzione
Release date	11 February 2016 (2016-02-11) (Italy)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	Italy
Language	Italian
Box office	$32.2 million

Perfect Strangers (Italian: Perfetti sconosciuti [perˈfɛtti skonoʃˈʃuːti]) is a 2016 Italian comedy-drama film directed and co-written by Paolo Genovese. It was released in Italy on 11 February 2016.

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.

Plot

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.

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.

Cast

• Giuseppe Battiston as Peppe
• Anna Foglietta as Carlotta
• Marco Giallini as Rocco
• Edoardo Leo as Cosimo
• Valerio Mastandrea as Lele
• Alba Rohrwacher as Bianca
• Kasia Smutniak as Eva
• Benedetta Porcaroli as Sofia

Reception

Box office

The film was number-one on its opening week in Italy, with US$3.7 million. It grossed $31.6 million at the box office.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 77% based on reviews from 13 critics, and an average rating of 6.7/10.

Accolades

Remakes

As of December 2017, remakes were underway in Qatar and Sweden.

In February 2017, The Weinstein Company acquired the rights to an English-language remake. 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. 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.

Having been remade 24 times, the film was recognized as the most remade film in Guinness World Records.

The Indian films Loudspeaker (2018) and 12th Man (2022) have been accused to have plagiarised Perfect Strangers. 1001 Nunakal (2022) was inspired by Perfect Strangers.

Stage adaptations

A number of Spanish-language stage adaptations of Perfect Strangers have been produced. An Argentine adaptation directed by Guillermo Francella premiered in March 2018. A Spanish version adapted by David Serrano and Daniel Guzmán and directed by Guzmán premiered on 26 September 2018. A Uruguayan production premiered in April 2019. A Peruvian adaptation premiered on 9 October 2019. A Mexican production premiered in November 2019. A Colombian production premiered in March 2022.

An Israeli adaptation opened at the Habima Theatre on 22 November 2018. Two Slovene adaptations opened in 2019 and 2023, respectively.

An Italian adaptation, directed by Genovese himself, in his theatrical debut, premiered on 10 February 2023.

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.

References

1. ^ "Perfetti sconosciuti (2016)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
2. "Perfect Strangers". Tribeca Film Festival. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
3. ^ Anderson, Ariston (16 February 2016). "Italy Box Office: Local Comedy Trumps 'Zoolander 2' Debut". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
4. ^ "Perfetti Sconosciuti: il film di Paolo Genovese al cinema dall'11 Febbraio". cinematographe.it (in Italian). 24 December 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
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8. "Perfect Strangers". View Master Films. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
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14. Calvillo, Martha (12 December 2018). "Presentan Perfectos Desconocidos a la mexicana en Guadalajara". Milenio (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 January 2022.
15. 【来电狂响】12月29日上映，游戏之夜，你敢玩吗？. Sohu (in Chinese). 26 December 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
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35. Mishra, Vinay MR (16 September 2023). "Akshay Kumar and Fardeen Khan's Khel Khel Mein is a remake of Perfect Strangers; Aditya Seal joins the cast". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
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39. Wiseman, Andreas (4 December 2023). "Eagle Pictures Boss Tarak Ben Ammar Teases "Big" Incoming Projects & Gives Update On English-Language 'Perfect Strangers' With Spyglass — Red Sea Studio". Deadline. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
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43. Shrijith, Sajin (25 May 2022). "'Full transparency in relationships doesn't exist'". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
44. "Llega «Perfectos desconocidos» bajo la dirección de Guillermo Francella". El Ciudadano (in Spanish). 4 September 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
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55. Tran, Diep (10 October 2024). "Shit. Meet. Fan Begins First Performance October 10". Playbill. Retrieved 2 December 2024.

External links

• Perfect Strangers at IMDb
• Perfect Strangers at Rotten Tomatoes

• 2016 films
• 2016 comedy-drama films
• Films directed by Paolo Genovese
• Films shot in Rome
• Italian comedy-drama films
• 2010s Italian-language films