Tear Along the Dotted Line (Season 1)

Tear Along the Dotted Line (Strappare lungo i bordi, 2021) is an Italian animated series you can watch online on iFILM. Six short episodes written, drawn and voiced by Roman cartoonist Zerocalcare.

The narrator rides a train across Italy with his friends Sara and Secco, and the trip unspools into memory: school, dead-end jobs, endless procrastination, and a girl he never quite worked up the nerve to chase. His conscience tags along as a grouchy armadillo voiced by Valerio Mastandrea. Rapid-fire Roman dialect, scruffy hand-drawn art and a motormouth voiceover carry the whole thing.

Netflix dropped it in 2021 and it became an instant phenomenon in Italy. It's a rare case of an artist's unfiltered, self-deprecating confession landing real emotional weight, and the ending hits much harder than the goofy tone prepares you for. Best for viewers who like honest melancholy and don't mind subtitles. Stream Tear Along the Dotted Line online on iFILM.