Happy as Lazzaro

On a tobacco estate called Inviolata, fifty-four people work as sharecroppers. The Marchioness tells them they are in debt and pays them nothing; outside, the arrangement has long been illegal and nobody there knows it. Lazzaro is a young man who does everyone's work and asks for nothing. He becomes friends with Tancredi, the Marchioness's son. When a staged kidnapping goes wrong the police arrive and the whole system comes out. In the same days Lazzaro falls from a cliff. Years later he wakes up without having aged and finds the people of the estate in the city, now living off small crimes. Alice Rohrwacher wrote and directed. The film works in magical realism and counts as the second part of her trilogy. Rohrwacher won Best Screenplay at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 91 percent and Metacritic at 87. Who it is for: viewers who like the Italian countryside, magical realism and films about class. Who it is not for: anyone wanting an explanation. Why Lazzaro does not age is never stated, and the film leaves it open on purpose.