Don’t Be Bad 2015

In Ostia, 1995, two young Romans, Vittorio, Alessandro Borghi, and Cesare, Luca Marinelli, have grown up side by side, their bond feeling more like brothers than simple friends. They drift through life tethered to a world of small-time schemes, illegal drugs, and a stubborn refusal to settle for ordinary work. Cesare shares a cramped apartment with his mother and his sick niece Debora, a shadow that hangs over their days and colors their every decision.

One evening, Vittorio, after taking several pills, experiences a cascade of hallucinatory visions and decides to seek real change. He secures a job at a construction site and hopes to pull Cesare into a path that might offer steadier ground. The plan to reinvent themselves unfolds amid persistent drug aftereffects, the looming risk of relapse, and the painful backdrop of Debora’s fragile health.

Gradually, the two men edge toward a semblance of normal life, even as the old habits tug at the edges of their new routines. Cesare becomes engaged to Viviana, Silvia D’Amico, a former girlfriend of Vittorio, hinting at how past loyalties still shape their futures. Vittorio, meanwhile, moves in with Linda, Roberta Mattei, a housewife, and her young son Tommaso, finding a temporary anchor away from the old streets.

Yet Cesare struggles to fully suppress the lure of his former life. The cracks widen until tragedy strikes: he is shot by a store owner during a failed robbery, and his dream of a clean break ends in a sudden, brutal turn of events. The loss casts a long shadow over Vittorio’s path as he continues to navigate the consequences of their choices and the fragile threads of friendship and family.

A year later, Vittorio encounters Viviana again and meets Cesare Jr., the son named after his late father, a reminder of what was lost and what might still be possible to carry forward. The film lingers on memory, consequence, and the uneasy scars that accompany any attempt to leave behind a life that burned too bright for too long.