Do You See Me?

Do You See Me? (Scusate se esisto!, 2014) is an Italian comedy — watch online on iFILM. Director Riccardo Milani follows Serena Bruno, an architect with multiple international degrees, as she moves back to Italy expecting her credentials to open doors. They do not.

The job market she comes home to is unimpressed by foreign qualifications, slow to take women seriously, and tightly wired by old connections. Paola Cortellesi plays Serena with a dry, tightly controlled frustration that keeps the comedy grounded rather than cartoonish. Her way through comes via Francesco, a gay man who knows a thing or two about being an outsider in a conservative environment — together they cook up a scheme to get Serena the position she actually deserves.

The film works because it never loses sight of the genuine unfairness underneath the laughs. Cortellesi makes Serena someone worth rooting for from the first scene to the last. Stream Do You See Me? online on iFILM.