Paura e amore (1988)

The three Parini sisters—Velia, Maria, and Sandra—live in the small Italian university town of Pavia. Velia is the eldest and serves as both a role model and a mother figure to the other two, while Maria is unhappily married to a television comedian and suffers from depression. Sandra, the baby of the family, is an idealistic medical student who is just celebrating her eighteenth birthday. Each sister suffers in her own way from not knowing which path in life, professionally or personally, is right for her. Velia, who has almost come to terms with being alone, falls in love with Massimo, a married university professor. To her dismay, her sister Maria becomes her rival in the struggle for Massimo’s affection. When Sandra falls in love with a doctor, she increasingly neglects her studies. He is killed in a car accident, while Sandra escapes unharmed. After Massimo remorsefully returns to his wife, the rivalry between Velia and Maria turns into solidarity, and together they comfort Sandra.