Perfect Strangers
A tense comedic-drama that spirals into emotional horror; a fragile social masquerade shattered by the harsh glow of a smartphone screen under a lunar eclipse.
Perfect Strangers
Perfect Strangers

Perfetti sconosciuti

"Everyone has three lives: A public life. A private life... and a secret life."

11 February 2016 Italy 97 min ⭐ 7.9 (4,515)
Director: Paolo Genovese
Cast: Giuseppe Battiston, Anna Foglietta, Marco Giallini, Edoardo Leo, Valerio Mastandrea
Drama Comedy
Secrecy and Deception Technology as a Revealer of Truth The Fragility of Relationships Public Persona vs. Private Self
Box Office: $32,207,491

Perfect Strangers - Movie Quotes

Memorable Quotes

Ognuno di noi ha tre vite: una pubblica, una privata ed una segreta.

— Eva (quoting Gabriel García Márquez, though often misattributed in the context of the film)

Context:

This line is spoken early in the dinner party, setting the stage for the game and foreshadowing the revelations to come. It's part of the conversation that leads Eva to suggest they share the contents of their phones.

Meaning:

Translated as, "Each of us has three lives: a public one, a private one, and a secret one." This quote is the philosophical thesis of the entire film, establishing the central conflict between the different layers of our identity.

Siamo tutti frangibili.

— Rocco

Context:

This is said by Rocco towards the end of the film's hypothetical timeline, after the devastating game has concluded and everyone's lives have been shattered. It is his profound and melancholic conclusion about human nature.

Meaning:

Translated as, "We are all breakable." This is Rocco's justification for why the game is a terrible idea. It suggests that human relationships are too fragile to withstand the pressure of absolute, unfiltered truth and that our flaws and secrets are an intrinsic part of us that must be handled with care.

Questo è diventato la scatola nera della nostra vita.

— Eva

Context:

Spoken during the initial debate about phones and privacy, this statement solidifies the symbolic role the devices will play throughout the night.

Meaning:

Translated as, "This [the phone] has become the black box of our lives." This metaphor powerfully captures the film's view of technology. Like an airplane's black box, the phone holds all the data—the truths, the secrets, the last communications—that can explain the crash of a relationship.