One of the very few things 2022 Netflix movie ‘Under The Amalfi Sun’ (Sotto il sole di Amalfi) does right – is capture the beautiful beach vibe of Amalfi, a seaside town in Italy. The trailer promises a fun holiday film about a young blind man going on vacation with his long-distance girlfriend and a bunch of other friends. It turned out to be an annoying slow story that couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a fun teenage romantic comedy or a soppy social destination drama.

Directed by Martina Pastori, it stars Lorenzo Zurzolo as the visually impaired Vincenzo who hopes to settle down with his girlfriend Cami (Ludovica Martin), but little does he know that she has other plans. Vincenzo’s character is only 20, he behaves like a high-school boy in his ‘rebellion’ phase. His friends don’t have the same problems, but they aren’t any better. There are so many half-done sub-plots and issues going on in the film that nobody stands out. Okay, maybe the gorgeous Kyshan Wilson is a little memorable, only because, well, she is stunning… and ironically has body issues in the film.

Except for the lead pair, every other young character has known each other only for a few hours, but they all behave like long-term disgruntled spouses. Why so much drama on a break? And for absolutely no reason, we also have a parallel sub-plot about Vincenzo’s over-protective mom, who is trying to get comfortable in a new romance herself. After a point, it gets really difficult to continue watching the movie, despite it’s reasonable 90 minute runtime.

The film’s IMDB credit has three writers – Caterina Salvador, Enrico Vanzina, Ciro Zecca – yet, they bring nothing fresh to the table. For conflict, they use the old annoying ‘miscommunication’ trope – just when a character wants to say something important, a bunch of other people scuttle the moment. I mean these are kids who were born in the cell-phone age, send a text, or a voice note, with the phone that’s practically attached to your hand like an extra finger.

It’s a 3/10 from me.

Subscribe to our podcast on YouTube by the same name – AbstractAF

Listen To: Persuasion Review – Anne With A Drinking Problem