Bad Tales (2021) Spoiler-Free Summary – What It's About

In the heat of an endless Roman summer, a quiet suburb unfolds like a postcard‑perfect neighborhood, its white‑washed houses and tree‑lined streets humming with the ordinary rhythms of family life. Beneath this placid surface, however, a subtle disquiet lingers: parents speak in rough, unfiltered tones, and the unspoken expectations between generations feel as brittle as the cracked pavement. The story is whispered through the pages of a discarded diary, its authenticity hinted at but never confirmed, lending the film a dream‑like uncertainty that blurs the line between reality and imagination.

At the heart of this tension is a small group of children, each too old for carefree innocence yet still trapped in the orbit of their overbearing adults. Justin Korovkin portrays the restless son of a father who treats the world with a casual abandon—offering his boy a driver’s seat, questionable adult paraphernalia, and a reckless sense of freedom. Across the street, a charismatic yet unsettling teacher, played by Lino Musella, holds sway over the youngsters, his unconventional lessons hinting at a darker curiosity. These characters move through their suburban landscape with a mixture of quiet rebellion and yearning, their voices echoing the diary’s fragmented observations and exposing the fragile veneer of domestic normalcy.

The film’s tone is unmistakably dark and surreal, its visuals crisp yet suffused with a muted pallor that mirrors the children’s growing awareness of adult discord. Vignettes drift between everyday moments and unsettling undercurrents, crafting an atmosphere that feels both intimate and oppressive. As summer stretches on, the children’s subtle discontent gathers like a tide, suggesting that the quiet streets may soon reveal the deeper fractures within each household, leaving the viewer to wonder just how far the unseen pressures can push those caught in their wake.