Una famiglia mostruosa (2021)

Adalberto and Luna are two students living away from home who meet and fall in love thanks to the intervention of Cagliostro, Adalberto’s black cat. Far from home, the two have no chance to meet each other’s families; but when Luna becomes pregnant, Adalberto is forced to take her to meet his, even though he has given her an unflattering picture of them. The girl has no idea that her boyfriend’s family is literally “monstrous”: Vladimiro, her future father-in-law, is a vampire; his wife, Brunilde, is a witch; her brother Nanni is a Frankenstein’s monster; her little sister Salmetta is a vampire girl; and their grandmother Crisilde is a ghost. Adalberto himself is a werewolf, though he longs for a normal life, and so far he has managed to hide his identity from Luna by leaving the house only during the new moon. The couple arrives at the family castle, where Adalberto hopes to discover the unborn baby’s nature through a magic mirror called Sirio—that is, to find out whether the child will be born human or a monster. All the while, they keep the truth from the unsuspecting Luna, whose pregnancy is progressing much faster than normal, to the point that the baby could be born within four days. Adalberto is especially trying to protect her from his parents’ hostility: they can barely stand the idea of him marrying a human. Brunilde, in particular, would rather get her son back together with his ex-girlfriend Daphne, the invisible woman, than see him with Luna, but to no avail. Everything becomes more complicated when Luna discovers their true nature and, angry with Adalberto for hiding the truth from her, wants to leave him, declaring that she will raise the baby alone, whether it is a monster or a human. Unfortunately, things take a strange turn with the unexpected arrival of her family—Nando, Stella, little Ivano, and Grandpa Paride. In a panic after learning the truth, Luna had sent them a message saying that Adalberto and his family were monsters. Her parents, Nando and Stella, are human in name only: they turn out to be so crude, vulgar, and mercenary that they fully deserve the moral label of “monsters.” Luna herself (whose real name is Luana) had said they were dead precisely because she was ashamed of them. The confrontation between the two families unfolds amid a whirlwind of misunderstandings and double-dealing, until the truth is finally revealed, along with the surprising developments of this very special pregnancy. Luna’s family is eventually convinced that their future in-laws are monsters, though at first they do not believe it—with the exception of Ivano, who immediately realizes that Salmetta is a vampire and tries to persuade her to give him his “first bite” (the vampire equivalent of a first kiss). They accept the news calmly, but Luna and Adalberto are still determined to separate. This time, surprisingly, it is Adalberto’s parents who do not want the two to break up, and they try to force them together with a love potion. The pair discover the trick, become even angrier, and decide to cut ties with both their families, while Daphne and Uncle Nanni drink the potion. Only the intervention of Adalberto’s and Luna’s grandparents, both ghosts, encourages them not to give up on their love because of their parents’ foolishness. While the family was distracted, Grandpa Paride had fallen in love at first sight with Adalberto’s grandmother, died, and become engaged to Crisilde. The two take the advice. As they leave the villa, Luna’s water breaks, and they rush to the hospital, where she gives birth to twins: a vampire boy and a werewolf. Not wanting to keep their respective parents from seeing their grandchildren, they forgive them. Years later, on Halloween night, Nando tells a group of children their story, but they do not believe him, even though his grandchildren are among them, dressed as the monsters. When they point out the risk of being found out, Nando explains that there is no danger of anyone else discovering that the story is true because, in his view, “every family is a little monstrous in its own way.” Finally, Ivano’s wish is granted too: Salmetta bites him and turns him into a vampire.