Perfect Strangers
During an Italian dinner party, a smartphone-sharing game turns long-standing friendship and marriage into a volatile test of honesty.
Overview
A dinner party takes a surprising turn when secrets are revealed through a game of honesty.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- None
- witty
- tense
- intimate
- conversation focused movie night
- italian cinema night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as a sharply written, well-acted chamber dramedy that turns a familiar smartphone premise into engaging relationship and social commentary.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The friends remain gathered around Rocco and Eva's dinner table while the phone game steadily escalates.
Texts, WhatsApp messages, and calls are placed in view of the entire group, turning mobile phones into engines of disclosure.
The dinner guests claim to share everything while the phone challenge exposes concealed affairs, jealousies, and personal secrets.
The warm dinner gathering becomes increasingly tense as each new notification changes the balance among the friends and couples.
Films like Perfect Strangers, and why
The Exterminating Angel
shared single-location dinner-party structure, escalating secrets, relationship drama, and darkly comic social tension
The Ice Storm
shared ensemble relationship drama, conversational wit, infidelity themes, and emotional revelations over a social gathering
Carnage
shared chamber-piece format, romantic deception, sharp dialogue, and gradually exposed private lives
The Dinner Game
shared contemporary social satire, friendship under pressure, and comedy generated by intrusive technology and hidden identities
Movie Details
- Director
- Paolo Genovese
- Release Date
- 2016-02-11
- Runtime
- 97 min
- Rating
- 7.8 / 10 (4694)
Cast
- Giuseppe Battiston
- Anna Foglietta
- Marco Giallini
- Edoardo Leo
- Valerio Mastandrea
- Alba Rohrwacher
- Kasia Smutniak
- Benedetta Porcaroli
- Elisabetta De Palo
- Tommaso Tatafiore
Common questions
- What is Perfect Strangers about?
- During an Italian dinner party, a smartphone-sharing game turns long-standing friendship and marriage into a volatile test of honesty.
- What is Perfect Strangers like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Perfect Strangers as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Perfect Strangers violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Perfect Strangers.
- What did critics think of Perfect Strangers?
- Critics broadly praised the film as a sharply written, well-acted chamber dramedy that turns a familiar smartphone premise into engaging relationship and social commentary.
- Which films are like Perfect Strangers?
- Films with a similar feel include The Exterminating Angel, The Ice Storm, Carnage, and The Dinner Game.
- How long is Perfect Strangers?
- Perfect Strangers runs 97 minutes.
