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Poster for Reality

Reality

2012 · 1h 57m · R Comedy, Drama
Directed by Matteo Garrone

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Overview

A dark comedy centering on the lives of a Neapolitan based family whose father, a fish merchant, is so infatuated with the reality TV show "Grande Fratello" (the Italian version of "Big Brother") he starts living his life as if he were on it.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
81%
Tomatometer
Fresh

It's clear that Garrone is lamenting the death of culture. But the movie is more compassionate than screed-y. It's a portrait of the preoccupation with fame in an age in which in fame is cheap.

Wesley Morris, Grantland
Rotten

The satire here is finespun, and the film's conclusions ambiguous.

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
Fresh

A dark allegorical comedy about the nature of fame, about obsession, about madness - and the point where they converge: on Big Brother, a TV show watched by millions.

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
Fresh

For all its ups and downs and occasional detours into boorishness, it's an original that will surprise if not necessarily delight fans of Garrone's very different crime drama, "Gomorrah."

John Hartl, Seattle Times
Fresh

Matteo Garrone follows his crime epic Gomorrah with a comedy about reality TV, and though it hardly rivals the earlier movie in its social complexity, it still offers the spectacle of a vibrant and vividly realized Neapolitan neighborhood.

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

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