THERE'S STILL TOMORROW - Mark Reviews Movies

There's Still Tomorrow, Greenwich Entertainment

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Review by Mark Dujsik | March 6, 2025

After World War II, some Italian filmmakers began making movies that confronted the realities of life for the impoverished and the working class, using non-professional actors and real locations. There's Still Tomorrow seems initially inspired by that post-war neorealism, as it follows a woman in 1946 Rome, dealing with an abusive husband, three children, and a slew of jobs to help provide for her family. Even if she wanted to, co-writer/director/star Paola Cortellesi couldn't make that kind of movie, for the simple reason that times and the world have changed too much to capture that period authentically in our contemporary era. In harkening back to that period of history, though, the film forces us to confront the notion that maybe times and the world haven't changed as much as we might believe.

Cortellesi, making her directorial debut after being a mainstay of Italian entertainment for almost 40 years, makes it clear that her story isn't simply about the past almost from the start of this story. After meeting her character Delia, the opening credits play out with her going through the street of Rome from one errand and job to the next. The music blasting on the soundtrack, though, isn't from the period. It's a funky little bit of rock that obviously wouldn't have been made in or before 1946, and there are other such musical interludes in the film, as well, including another race down sidewalks set to an American hip hop anthem from the end of the 20th century.

The point of noting these stylistic flourishes is to say that this film keeps its feet in the past, as it tells a story that is part post-war kitchen-sink melodrama and part satirical comedy about the social mores of that period, and its mind in the present. Cortellesi doesn't simply want us to sympathize with Delia's plight, as she navigates the controlling ways of her husband Ivano (Valerio Mastandrea) and tries to help start a better life for her daughter Marcella (Romana Maggiora Vergano). The film wants us to consider how much of Delia's struggle remains relevant to this very day, which is made especially apparent and surprisingly poignant by the story's subtle twist of a conclusion.

Then again, the resolution here might not be too much of a surprise for those who know Italian history, but the screenplay by the director/star, Furio Andreotti, and Giulia Calenda definitely keeps that side of history intentionally obscured throughout the film. It gives us so many conflicts, complications, and conundrums for Delia to confront, and amidst so much hectic plotting, we probably wouldn't even consider that at least some kind of answer—or, at least, the start of a path toward a solution—might be a relatively simple one.

Most of the narrative, then, sticks to Delia, who provides caretaking services to older people whose well-to-do families don't want to deal with their elders and does laundry at a local hotel. All of that work, as well as whatever else might come up to make money, is meant to supplement Ivano's income, but she keeps some of it hidden in a drawer. After all, Ivano regularly spends his salary on gambling, booze, and other women.

The script cuts right to the core of the husband, whose introduction has him meeting Delia wishing him a good morning with a slap across her face. There is more abuse here, heard by the couple's three children in their shared bedroom and the neighbors outside the apartment building. One scene of it plays like a twisted romance of a dance number, as if Delia is attempting to justify in her mind why she's still with Ivano. The blood and bruises fade as quickly as they appear on her body in this moment.

The bulk of the plot gives us some kind of answer to that question. Marcella is in love with Giulio (Francesco Centorame), whose father owns a popular café. The young man wants to marry her, so Delia tries to arrange a proper lunch at the family's apartment for Giulio and his family. It could go right, if she can keep the wine from Ivano, her two sons from swearing in front of the guests, and her rough and ailing father-in-law Ottorino (Giorgio Colangeli) locked in his room. Once everything mostly goes according to plan, Delia now has to determine if Giulio is going to be a kind, loving husband to her daughter or if he's just another Ivano in waiting.

As this unfolds, there's the other central question of the story: What is Delia to do about her own situation? Marcella puts that query to her mother directly, but she doesn't have an answer, because she still has the daughter—and, to a lesser degree, the sons, who aren't and likely wouldn't be targets of Ivano's abuse—to consider.

Could an answer come from William (Yonv Joseph), an American soldier who's desperate to help Delia, or Nino (Vincio Marchioni), a kindly auto mechanic who was courting Delia in her youth before Ivano intervened? The third act sets up a mysterious plan on the protagonist's part, and there's some devious humor, connected to a badly timed death and a group of phony mourners, in watching how it all goes wrong.

Cortellesi walks a tonal tightrope through the whole of There's Still Tomorrow, finding aching sincerity in this grounded tale, while also providing biting humor in its moments of fantasy or pointed satire. It's an impressive bit of storytelling, but that finale, which almost comes from nowhere, provides exactly the right note of realistic optimism.

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