The Macaluso Sisters

2020 1h 29m IT

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 164

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Maria, Pinuccia, Lia, Katia and Antonella are five sisters who live in an apartment in Palermo. They make a living by renting doves for ceremonies. On a normal day at the beach, tragedy strucks.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Viola Pusatieri
Antonella
Eleonora De Luca
Young Maria
Simona Malato
Adult Maria
Susanna Piraino
Young Lia
Serena Barone
Adult Lia
Maria Rosaria Alati
Old Lia
Anita Pomario
Young Pinuccia
Donatella Finocchiaro
Adult Pinuccia

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Emma Dante
Writers: Emma Dante, Elena Stancanelli, Emma Dante
Languages: Italian
Countries: Italy

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 6

RUNTIME

Did you know

89 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 6

ERA

Did you know

Released 6 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 6

ERA

Did you know

Directed by Emma Dante, shot by Gherardo Gossi. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 6

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Benni Atria shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 6

CAST

Did you know

Viola Pusatieri and Eleonora De Luca and Simona Malato carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 6

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt12789110 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Emma Dante directs. Gherardo Gossi behind the camera. Benni Atria cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Italy. Dialogue in Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

189 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Released 6 years ago.
3Directed by Emma Dante, shot by Gherardo Gossi. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor Benni Atria shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Viola Pusatieri and Eleonora De Luca and Simona Malato carry the top of the cast.
6IMDB entry: tt12789110 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Gherardo Gossi
Editing: Benni Atria
Production design: Emita Frigato
Costume design: Vanessa Sannino
Makeup / hair: Valentina Parrino
VFX supervisor: Massimo Cipollina
Sound: Benni Atria
Stunt coordinator: Marco Pancrazi
Runtime: 89 min · 1h 29m
Status: Released
Original language: IT
IMDB: The Macaluso Sisters (2020)

Also by

Emma Dante

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-03-19
★ 7/10
There are five siblings all living in the same house in Sicily, of varying ages, and this film takes us through their lives, loves, trials and tribulations as they must deal with each other and their respective choices and aspirations as they all grow older and deal with tragedy. It’s told back to front, really, as we reflect on the life of “Antonella” (Viola Pusateri) whilst dancing around the timelines of what’s gone before. It was probably easiest to depict the initial stages of their lives as youngsters growing up and meeting life’s new challenges in different ways - boys, girls, hormones, you name it, and for me that segment of the film works best. As they all mature, though, it rather stagnates - a fair reflection on a daily grind best epitomised by the eldest, “Maria” (Eleonora De Luca) who has to take responsibility at a fairly young age and who never really loses, or knows how to lose, that, but not always the most scintillating to watch evolve. It’s that despair, with or without a capital ‘D’ that, together with the house in which they live, provides a rather depressing template for a story that sucks the joy and hope from their characters and leaves them as once aspirational now shells of women whom I found it quite difficult to either relate to nor to sympathise with. What I did like was the paucity of dialogue as it progressed. The imagery, repetitive at times but poignant too, starts to leave our own imagination to do some of the heavy lifting here as we fill in our own interpretation of many of the elements we don’t see or learn about directly from the screenplay. It’s at times quite a powerfully objective look at the constraining nature of close and intimate family life, but with little real attempt made to give these ladies much depth, I struggled to remain engaged.

Production companies