My Brother Chases Dinosaurs 2019

Giacomo “Jack” is a curious child who grows up in Pieve di Cento, living with his parents Davide and Katia, and his older sisters Chiara and Alice. One day he learns he will soon have a baby brother, Giovanni “Giò”. When Giovanni “Giò” is born, the family discovers he has Down syndrome. At first, Jack is happy, imagining his little brother as a superhero, but as time passes he realizes his parents have led him to expect something different from reality.

Years later, Jack must choose a high school with Vittorio—his best friend. In this new chapter, Jack meets Arianna and falls in love, deciding to enroll in the same school to win her attention. He also aims to fit in with the crowd by joining the band of the two boys he admires most, even as he struggles with a persistent shyness that makes him reluctant to talk about his family situation. The pressure to appear “normal” pushes Jack to keep his brother’s existence hidden, and the silence around Giovanni gradually grows into a bigger, damaging lie.

As the year unfolds, Jack discovers that the band he joined has a YouTube channel, a detail he shares with his family. Little Giovanni starts making videos too, helped by Vittorio, and the brothers’ online presence becomes a source of both pride and fear. Jack confronts a troubling moment when some classmates stumble upon the videos; he deletes them and blames a non-existent neo-Nazi group to protect his family from scrutiny. The incident triggers a broader response at home and at school, culminating in a protest organized by the Mazzariol family to challenge the supposed neo-Nazi movement. Jack, Arianna, and their classmates participate in this demonstration, forcing the case into the open and testing the bonds that hold the siblings and friends together.

Throughout the story, the dynamic between Jack, his sister Chiara, and his sister Alice, alongside his parents, frames a quiet but powerful exploration of honesty, belonging, and the courage it takes to tell the truth. The film uses intimate moments—between a boy and his best friend, between lovers, and within a family—to paint a portrait of adolescence colored by love, fear, and the sometimes painful clarity that comes with growing up.