Terraferma
On a Sicilian island, a fisherman’s family risks its livelihood and social standing to protect a rescued migrant mother and her child.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- morally serious
- melancholic
- intimate
- reflective evening
- social issue cinema night
What critics said
Critics broadly recognized a morally passionate, thematically rich social drama with strong emotional reflection, while finding its storytelling familiar and sometimes heavy-handed.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Filippo’s fisherman family shelters an Ethiopian mother and child despite legal prohibitions and social consequences.
Linosa’s enclosed fishing community intensifies the family’s choices after boats are confiscated and the immigrant woman joins the household.
The film centers the rescued mother, her child, and the fishermen’s household as immigration reshapes everyday life.
The family’s boats are confiscated, making economic survival inseparable from their response to the sinking migrant vessel.
Films like Terraferma, and why
The Golden Dream
socially engaged immigration drama grounded in a coastal community and moral conflict
Mediterranea
empathetic contemporary migration drama emphasizing human dignity and difficult ethical choices
The Other Side of Hope
italian social drama about migration, family pressure, and institutional indifference
Movie Details
- Director
- Emanuele Crialese
- Release Date
- 2011-09-07
- Runtime
- 88 min
- Rating
- 6.7 / 10 (103)
Cast
- Filippo Pucillo
- Donatella Finocchiaro
- Giuseppe Fiorello
- Mimmo Cuticchio
- Tiziana Lodato
- Claudio Santamaria
- Martina Codecasa
- Filippo Scarafia
- Timnit T.
- Pierpaolo Spollon
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Cohen Media Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Terraferma about?
- On a Sicilian island, a fisherman’s family risks its livelihood and social standing to protect a rescued migrant mother and her child.
- What is Terraferma like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Terraferma as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Terraferma violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Terraferma as mild.
- What did critics think of Terraferma?
- Critics broadly recognized a morally passionate, thematically rich social drama with strong emotional reflection, while finding its storytelling familiar and sometimes heavy-handed.
- Which films are like Terraferma?
- Films with a similar feel include The Golden Dream, Mediterranea, and The Other Side of Hope.
- How long is Terraferma?
- Terraferma runs 88 minutes.
- Where can I watch Terraferma?
- In United States, Terraferma streams on Cohen Media Amazon Channel.
