Love is madness. (Follemente) is a 2025 Italian romantic comedy film directed by Paolo Genovese from a screenplay by Paolo Genovese, Isabella Aguilar, Lucia Calamaro, Paolo Costella and Flaminia Gresi. The film premiered in Italy on 20 February 2025.
Love is madness. (internationally known as Madly) is a 2025 romantic comedy directed by Paolo Genovese, a master of the Italian genre who knows how to mix humor with human depth. The story centers on a first date that becomes an unusual journey through the thoughts, fears, and desires of two people. The film turns out to be not just entertainment, but also a reflection of the internal dialogue we all have when faced with the uncertainty of a new relationship.
The plot of Love is madness. revolves around Lara and Piero, two people at different stages of their lives: she is a 35-year-old furniture restorer who has just come out of a complicated relationship, he is a 50-year-old divorced father who still carries the scars of his previous relationships. The two meet by chance and decide to have a first date at Lara's home. At first, it's a classic romantic beginning - awkward moments, expectations and hormones of attraction. But Love is madness. adds an original angle: the thoughts of the two come to life visually as small figures that argue, advise, and sabotage the actions of their „carriers.“ These inner voices—the rational, the romantic, the cynical, the passionate, and others—reveal the secrets of the fears and hopes that each one carries within them. Rather than simply being a dialogue between two people, the evening becomes an inner dialogue between different aspects of their personalities. What does it mean to be vulnerable? How do you choose between your heart and your mind? Love is madness. asks these questions with a lot of humor, but also with soft human compassion.
Paolo Genovese, known for his successful Italian comedies, directs the project with attention to detail and human psychology. He uses mise-en-scène and visual representations of inner voices to create an almost psycho-comic portrait of a first date, which ranges from quiet self-irony to violent mental conflicts. The director arranges the scenes in such a way that the viewer can recognize himself in his own mental traps - the direction skillfully balances between reality and imagination, between the intimate and the universal. Such a visual metaphor of the inner world makes the film more interesting than standard romantic comedies.
The actors in Love is madness. offer natural and often funny performances that contribute to the artistic balance between romance and introspection. The leads, Edoardo Leo and Pilar Fogliati, portray two people unprepared for the emotional chaos of their encounter—making them not just characters, but relatable characters. The supporting roles, who embody the characters’ inner voices, help to visualize the conflict between different mindsets: from the rational and the analytical to the sense of romance and the fear of vulnerability.
Love is madness. was a huge box office success in Italy, breaking box office records in its opening weekend and remaining at the top of the box office for weeks. However, the reactions were mixed. Some viewers and critics found the humor and visualization of inner thoughts to be a fresh and entertaining metaphor for modern relationships. Others, especially some reviews on IMDb, criticized the film for a superficial script and insufficient emotional depth, describing it as a more superficial romantic comedy with little story development. Thus Love is madness. remains a commercially successful but stylistically delicate project — perfect for viewers looking for not only a love story, but also a humorous look at the human psyche.
Love is madness. is a more unconventional romantic comedy that uses imagined inner voices to explore human motivations, fears, and hopes during an intimate but impromptu first date. The film is both funny and thought-provoking, providing a fresh angle on the timeless themes of love, uncertainty, and the relationship between the heart and the mind.
