Children of the Monkey (2026) Movie Drinking Game
Take a Drink: whenever the son is a happy little dude
Take a Drink: for talk of motorbikes
Take a Drink: when it’s wine o’clock
Do a Shot: whenever the father gets a bit heated with someone
By: Henry J. Fromage (Two Beers) –
It’s that time of year again- fall film festivals start their sprint with Venice, and you don’t get just the big premieres here, but also the most interesting domestic output of Italy.
Children of the Monkey follows family man Dario (Riccardo Scamarcio) as he navigates challenges with his disabled son alongside his wife, while also encouraging his teenage nephew’s interest in dirtbiking, which he was quite skilled at himself at the same age.
A Toast
Director Tommaso Landucci immerses us in his slice of life drama from the onset. Family means everything to these characters, and is an integral part of their day to day- not just the nuclear family, but cousins, uncles, and grandparents. They seem to be in the same business as well, which underlines their bonds (and understandable frustrations) all the more.
Dario has a bit of a rough, intense look to him belied by his tenderness with his boy and regular family bona fides. The stresses he is under seem to come out in smaller interactions, like the admittedly never fun visit to the doctor’s office. Perhaps tellingly, this occurs in a visit for himself and his back pain, as he exercises greater patience in the clearly more frequent visits on behalf of his son.
For much of the film, it’s really hard to tell where it is going. Dario perhaps has some regret or simply wishes to raise a son who can do the kind of physical activities he enjoyed as a boy- like the competitive dirtbiking his brother would prefer his son spend less time on in deference to the schoolwork he’s not been working hard enough on- but that is in no way evident in the bond with his own son.
When Dario starts crossing the line is subtle, and in a lot of families, his criticisms and unsolicited parenting advice would probably barely register. This isn’t a film spurred by drastic decisions or direct conflict, but rather the steady friction-based erosion of long familiarity and old wounds perhaps insignificant when created, yet deepened over time.
The technical bona fides of Landucci’s film are impeccable as well, but I especially appreciated his usage of a bit grainier filmstock, which gives everything an air of an indie or foreign film from the 90s- there’s something comfortingly cinematic about its texture and the uncommon barred-off aspect ratio he chooses as well.
Beer Two
Ample potential sources of drama are hinted at for much of the film, but very little comes to pass- this is by all accounts a pretty darn well-adjusted family, even when dealt a tougher hand than many in life. In other words, don’t expect high drama or explosive conflict – it’s not that kind of movie.
Verdict
Children of the Monkey is a family drama scaled as such- a perfectly pitched tale of fatherhood and family.
