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Tom's Guide
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
Netflix's new crime thriller show sounds like a compelling binge-watch — and you can stream it now
Netflix is constantly adding new international shows to its lineup, but sometimes the quieter releases can slip through the cracks, especially when bigger titles are dominating the spotlight. 'Sara - Woman in the Shadows,' an Italian crime thriller that just dropped today (June 3), feels like one of those shows that might surprise you. Claudia Gerini, known for her role in 'John Wick: Chapter 2', joins forces with Teresa Saponangelo, star of 'The Hand of God,' in this new series helmed by Carmine Elia — the director behind acclaimed shows such as 'The Red Door' and 'The Sea Beyond.' Based on Maurizio de Giovanni's popular crime novel series 'Le indagini di Sara' ('The Investigations of Sara'), the show centers on a former intelligence agent with exceptional observational skills, drawn back into a dangerous world after her son's mysterious death. The books have been praised for their clever storytelling, rich character development, and exploration of heavy themes like grief. With just six episodes, 'Sara - Woman in the Shadows' seems like a compact, emotionally charged thriller that could be a great addition to your Netflix queue. Here's everything to know about it. 'Sara - Woman in the Shadows' follows Sara (Teresa Saponangelo), a former internal secret service agent known as 'the invisible woman' for her unmatched skill in the field. Once a legend, she's now withdrawn and living in isolation until the sudden, suspicious death of her son pulls her back into a world she thought she'd left behind. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Desperate for answers, Sara turns to her old friend and former colleague, Teresa (Claudia Gerini), for help. But nothing in her world comes without a cost. As she digs deeper into the investigation, she uncovers unsettling truths about the son she barely knew and in doing so, is forced to confront ghosts from her own past. Flavio Furno plays Pardo, a dedicated police officer involved in the investigation. Chiara Celotto alsoo stars as Viola, a photographer who is also the pregnant partner of Sara's son. It's still too early to say whether 'Sara - Woman in the Shadows' is a must-watch, since there aren't many reviews yet and it doesn't have a Rotten Tomatoes score. However, based on the trailer and premise, it seems to offer plenty of mystery for fans who enjoy piecing together clues as the plot unfolds. 'Sara - Woman in the Shadows' appears to have all the key elements for a gripping thriller, too. At its core, it's a character-driven story about a former secret service agent navigating a dangerous world while unraveling personal and professional mysteries tied to her past. With just six episodes, it's perfect for those who prefer shorter series. And, like many international shows, it's often best experienced with subtitles to fully appreciate the original performances and emotional nuance. The vibe and tone are also reminiscent of other Netflix originals like 'The Åre Murders' and 'The Glass Dome,' so fans of those shows might find 'Sara - Woman in the Shadows' especially appealing. If you enjoy mystery-driven stories and want a compact series to binge, this could be a great addition to your Netflix queue. But if it's not grabbing you right now, there are plenty of other new releases to explore this June 2025. Stream 'Sara - Woman in the Shadows' on Netflix now.
Time of India
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Sara: Woman in the Shadows OTT Release Date - When and where to watch Teresa Saponangelo's Italian crime series
Sara: Woman in the Shadows OTT Release Date - You know that feeling when a mother decides she's done being quiet? That's exactly what happens in Sara: Woman in the Shadows, which is set to stream on Netflix starting June 3. The Italian crime thriller is also titled Sara – la donna nell'ombra, brings back powerhouse actress Teresa Saponangelo, known for The Hand of God and Vincenzo Malinconico – The Italian Lawyer. But this time, she's playing Sara - a quiet, retired secret service agent who has locked herself away from the world after the sudden, mysterious death of her son. Now, something tells her it wasn't just an accident… and that changes everything. What's the story all about? Sara isn't your typical ex-agent. She's a lip-reading expert, razor-sharp even after years away from the field. But the death of her son pulls her back into the world she tried so hard to leave behind. She reconnects with her old colleague Teresa (played by Claudia Gerini, from Suburra: Blood on Rome), who agrees to help… but at a cost. To get answers, Sara has to go back into the shadows, and suddenly, she's chasing criminals, decoding clues, and unravelling conspiracies just like the old days. She's not alone this time. A tough cop named Pardo (Flavio Furno) and a photographer, Viola (Chiara Celotto), who also happens to be her late son's pregnant partner, join her on this mission. Together, they uncover layer after layer of secrets that lead to something far more sinister than anyone expected. Sara: Woman in the Shadows is based on a bestselling novel series, Le indagini di Sara by Maurizio de Giovanni, the same mind behind The Bastards of Pizzofalcone. Directed by Carmine Elia (La Porta Rossa), the film is written by Donatella Diamanti, Mario Cristiani, and Giovanni Galassi. This 6-episodic suspense series also stars Massimo Popolizio, Carmine Recano, and Antonio Girardi.
New Statesman
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New Statesman
Paolo Sorrentino's Parthenope is an exercise in the male gaze
Photo by Gianni Fiorito / A24 Speaking up for the male gaze, on show in his marvellous 2015 film Youth, Paolo Sorrentino told the Guardian: 'Because women are a mystery to me, I tend to have positive projections on to them. Probably the fact that I don't know them means I idealise them much more than I can with male characters.' Not so much a confession as a prediction, it turns out. Parthenope is Sorrentino's tenth feature film – his second set in his native Naples, following his autobiographical coming-of-age movie for Netflix in 2021, The Hand of God – and his first to have a female protagonist. The body of Parthenope, one of the sirens of Greek mythology, was washed ashore in the bay of Naples, and her name given to the earliest Greek city in Italy, later refounded as Neapolis. Neapolitans remain known as Parthenopeans. Parthenope is more or less an act of worship of the city in the form of the girl and vice versa. 'Naples is free, Naples is dangerous, Naples never judges, Naples is like Parthenope.' So Sorrentino, never one to mince, or perhaps weigh, his words, proclaims in his director's note, as if the comparison could be missed. The film opens with Parthenope's birth, in the sea, in lovely Posillipo, masterminded by her imperious godfather, who has brought her, all the way from Versailles, a golden carriage for a bed. It is 1950. Parthenope's brother Raimondo, and his friend Sandrino, the family housekeeper's son, look on in amazement. Within four minutes, we've been progressed to 1968, thus decisively skirting any paedophilic implications. The gorgeous Parthenope (photogenic Celeste Dalla Porta, 27) rises from the same waters in an ultramarine string bikini (the film, co-produced by Saint Laurent, has been brilliantly costume-directed by its creative director, Anthony Vaccarello). Sorrentino, we are immediately reminded, remains an undeflected devotee of the side breast. Parthenope's swain Sandrino (Dario Aita), utterly besotted, waits for her on terra firma, prepping her cigarette. She smokes with supreme style in almost every scene in which she appears. His first words? 'You're a goddess.' He's right: she literally is. He can't keep his eyes off her, and nor can the camera of the excellent director of photography, Daria D'Antonio, who also worked on The Hand of God. Parthenope takes Sandrino into the family mansion and poses nude within the veils of the gilded bed. 'Can I come inside?' he asks humbly. 'No,' she replies, giggling, 'but you may circle the carriage.' Both he and the camera do. Sandrino wants to get engaged but Parthenope tells him the future is bigger than both of them. 'What are you thinking about?' he asks, a question almost all the men in the film put to her, in wonder. No reply comes. A mystery, then, women. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Parthenope remains free, enslaving all. Moving on to 1973, she, Sandrino and her dangerously devoted brother Raimondo (Daniele Rienzo) holiday on Capri. Her beauty causes consternation wherever she goes. Her favourite writer, John Cheever (Gary Oldman), also on the island, may be an alcoholic wreck but he understands. 'Are you aware of the disruption your beauty causes?' he asks. When she begs to accompany him on his lonely stroll, he nobly replies: 'No, because I don't want to steal one minute of your youth from you.' Parthenope considers becoming an actress, meeting an amazing acting coach Flora Malva (Isabella Ferrari), masked after an encounter with a Brazilian plastic surgeon, and an elderly Neapolitan star, Greta Cool (Luisa Ranieri), who despises her native city. Her key relationship is with her distinguished professor of anthropology (terrific Silvio Orlando), who guides her into learning to see and accept other lives without judging them. Then, suddenly, Parthenope is 73 (Stefania Sandrelli), retired, alone, her youth gone. 'Love as a means of survival has been a failure – or maybe not,' she says, she too wondering, at last, what she was thinking. So bella figura conquers all. So much beauty, so senselessly. Sorrentino's exquisitely Neapolitan sensibility is more enabled than compromised by the fact that he is also, on this evidence, a bear of very little brain. 'Parthenope' is in cinemas now [See also: Bonfire of the bureaucrats] Related
Irish Times
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Parthenope: Paolo Sorrentino's most leering film since his Berlusconi biopic
Parthenope Director : Paolo Sorrentino Cert : 16 Genre : Drama Starring : Celeste Dalla Porta, Stefania Sandrelli, Gary Oldman, Silvio Orlando, Luisa Ranieri, Peppe Lanzetta, Isabella Ferrari Running Time : 2 hrs 17 mins Much of Paolo Sorrentino's 11th feature is an ode to Naples too many. Following his tremendous Maradona-themed roman a clef The Hand of God , the sluggish Parthenope casts the director's native Napoli – we think – as a beautiful, capricious woman in a bikini. And sometimes not even a bikini. Celeste Dalla Porta's mythologically named title character is meaningfully born in the waters of Posillipo – where her siren namesake lured sailors to their doom – in 1950. Her early years are dominated by a strange throuple between her dishy housekeeper's son and incestuously obsessed brother. Disjointed episodes introduce the American author John Cheever (Gary Oldman), a follically challenged variant of Sophia Loren, and the randy cardinal (Peppe Lanzetta) who presides over the miraculous liquefaction of the blood of Napoli's patron saint, San Gennaro. Even an intellectual relationship – well, a bunch of pithy quips – with her university professor (Silvio Orlando) fails to convince us she is more substantial than a topless version of a manic pixie dream girl: a gliding object for the chaps to ogle and bounce off. READ MORE 'What's your favourite part of a woman's body?' Parthenope asks Lanzetta's prelate during an absurd and pointedly blasphemous seduction sequence: 'Her back. The rest is pornography.' The enigmatic title character is at the centre of every plodding scene, yet Dalla Porta is given scandalously little to do in Sorrentino's most leering film since Lora, his Berlusconi biopic. She covers her ears and ducks out of Italy's briefly glimpsed Years of Lead; she encounters a surreal giant baby and simply keeps gliding. For all these frustrations the Italian auteur crafts several indelible moments. Parthenope meets a charming mobster (Marlon Joubert) who leads her through the slums of Naples in scenes that recall James Joyce's depictions of Monto. She witnesses a wild live sex show during which the young scions of two rival Camorra families attempt to conceive a child. These picaresque and picturesque adventures fail to coalesce into a movie. But it's impossible to argue with Daria D'Antonio's ravishing cinematography and an unexpectedly moving coda featuring Stefania Sandrelli as an older Parthenope.
