Come un gatto in tangenziale - Ritorno a Coccia di Morto (2021)

Three years have passed since Monica and Giovanni’s brief relationship. They broke up and lost touch, while their children happened to meet in London, where they both live: Agnese is there to study and Alessio for work. In the meantime, because the twins carried out a theft and hid the stolen goods in her restaurant, “Pizza e Samosa,” Monica is charged and ends up in Rebibbia Prison. So, to avoid disappointing her son Alessio, she is forced to ask Giovanni for help. He is working on the “SpazioVivo” Cultural Center project in the outskirts of Rome, alongside his new, young, ambitious partner, Camilla. With Giulio’s help, Giovanni manages to have Monica’s sentence commuted to a period of community service at a parish-run rehabilitation community which, ironically, is right next to the Cultural Center. Monica’s initial experience there is disastrous because of Sister Maria Catena’s presence and strictness, and the restrictions imposed on her. Meanwhile, Giovanni is juggling his relationship with Monica and Camilla, who wants to organize a glamorous, luxurious opening event for the Center to please its many sponsors. Later, Monica meets Don Davide, the handsome priest who runs the community and is wholly devoted to social causes. An infatuated Luce describes him as “very pious,” and Monica, too, is in some way charmed by him, sparking Giovanni’s latent jealousy. In the meantime, Pamela and Sue Ellen get into trouble again because of a past “incident” with Er Piranha, and Monica is forced to ask Sergio for help. He organizes an exchange of “prisoners” to get them home. Driven by jealousy, Giovanni decides to join Monica and Don Davide on some charitable missions. This gives him a new understanding of the social problems the Cultural Center is supposed to address, but which Camilla and the sponsors completely ignore. Monica and Giovanni thus have a chance to grow close again, and he takes her on a wonderful nighttime tour of Rome, reaching a secret passage behind the Trevi Fountain. When Monica returns, she catches Don Davide preparing for a forced action intended to restore the electricity, cut off by the authorities, to an illegally occupied apartment building, and joins him. The mission succeeds, but in turn causes a citywide blackout and damages the Cultural Center’s installations, scuppering the opening and prompting the sponsors to withdraw their funding. When Giovanni finds out that Monica and Don Davide are responsible, he and Monica have a furious argument, after which they separate again. While walking around the neighborhood, Monica comes across the various performances organized by the “Spazio Vivo” Cultural Center and, seeing them in a different light and with a new awareness, understands the cultural and social motivations behind the project. Shortly afterward, Giovanni learns that the local health authority has issued Don Davide an injunction prohibiting him from setting up the usual soup kitchen for the poor in the church, following a complaint by neighborhood residents who have always opposed their charitable work. Giovanni therefore decides to make the now-abandoned Cultural Center space available to the community, as it has all the necessary permits. This brings him and Monica close again, and after a night of love, they decide to stay together for good. Monica’s return to Bastogi is greeted with great excitement and warmth by everyone. Once home, she discovers that, while she was away, the twins sublet Alessio’s room to ten Indian immigrants. During the celebrations for her return, with Alessio due back, Monica suggests to Giovanni that they have an “intimate” little lunch at Coccia di Morto to make their relationship public to their son and their families. But Alessio’s arrival comes with a surprise: Agnese is with him. They discover that the two young people have got back together and that she is pregnant. After an initial moment of confusion and dismay, Monica and Giovanni take each other’s hands, implying that they are about to make the inevitable announcement about their relationship.