I’ll Be Going Now

Rosa is a solitary, sensitive 9-year-old who has grown up without a father figure and with a mother preoccupied with her own life. Augusto represents an unexpected source of attention and affection that she craves. His vulnerability and status as an outsider make him non-threatening, and his willingness to spend time with her, taking her to the carnival, walking through the streets, fills an emotional void that no one else in the household has addressed. Her attraction to him is both compensating for loneliness and driven by genuine curiosity about this mysterious family member.

Rosa's solitary nature and her immediate pull toward Augusto are established in the opening scenes, showing her as a child seeking connection.

Carla fears that Augusto's unpredictable behavior, taking Rosa to a bar, giving her wine, and letting her fall asleep in a strange environment, demonstrates he is unfit to care for a child. Since she is legally responsible for Augusto's welfare and has already risked her reputation by taking him in, any further incident could trigger his recommitment to the psychiatric clinic. Her threat to have him recommitted is both a genuine expression of concern for Rosa's safety and a way to assert control over a situation that is slipping beyond her management.

Carla's anxiety about Augusto's presence was foreshadowed earlier when he embarrassed her at the business party.

After 18 years institutionalized in a psychiatric clinic, Augusto lacks the social conditioning and interpersonal skills that most adults develop through decades of normal life. His time in the clinic removed him from everyday social situations, leaving him unable to read social cues or regulate his impulses. His abrupt departures, sudden honesty at the party, and spontaneous actions during the TV broadcast are not calculated, they reflect genuine difficulty navigating a world that has moved on without him. The film presents this not as villainy but as the natural consequence of prolonged isolation.

The secretary incident early in the film establishes that Augusto is unsettled by normal social interactions and responds inappropriately.

Rosa faces two intertwined fears: she has learned she may be sent to a distant boarding school, separating her from the only person who truly values her company, and she has witnessed her mother threaten to have Augusto recommitted, effectively losing him too. Rather than accept a life without the one person who makes her feel seen, she chooses to flee to the only person who has given her unconditional attention. Her action is a child's desperate attempt to preserve the meaningful connection she has finally found.

Rosa's earlier warmth toward Augusto and her distress at the carnival confrontation directly lead to her decision to seek him out.

Augusto deliberately leaves his address with Rosa because he wants to maintain a connection with the only person who has shown him genuine affection. Even as he flees the threat of recommitment, he cannot bear to sever ties entirely with Rosa. This act reveals his deep emotional need for connection despite his isolation, and it sets up the eventual police search that brings them back. It also shows his naivety about the consequences, he does not anticipate that Rosa will follow him or that the authorities will be called.

Augusto's loneliness after returning home and his joy at Rosa's company foreshadow his need to stay connected to her.

The film never explicitly reveals the specific diagnosis or events that led to Augusto's hospitalization, as the focus remains on his reintegration rather than his clinical history. What is clear is that he was a bank manager before his institutionalization, that he was divorced at some point, and that he has now been deemed stable enough to return to civilian life. The 18-year absence suggests a severe mental health episode or condition, but the film treats this as context rather than a mystery to be solved, viewers are meant to accept his past as an established fact and focus on his present struggles.

The opening scenes establish his return after 18 years, and the narrative treats this period as a known quantity rather than a puzzle.

Rosa is a child in the natural process of developing new attachments. Her intense connection with Augusto was partly a response to his novelty and her own loneliness, but it was never sustainable, he is an elderly man with significant limitations, and she is a young girl whose emotional world is still expanding. When she meets a handsome cousin her own age, she experiences a new, age-appropriate attraction that represents normal childhood development. Augusto recognizes this shift as painful but inevitable, understanding that his role in her life must be limited to allow her to grow.

The film hints at Rosa's developing independence throughout, and her readiness to form new connections is part of her natural growth.

Augusto lacks the social calibration that comes with normal adult interaction. Having spent 18 years in an institutional setting, he does not understand the subtleties of business networking or the importance of maintaining professional appearances. His spontaneous criticism of a client reflects both his inability to read the room and perhaps a residual honesty or bluntness that his illness has not erased. The moment is not malicious, he genuinely does not comprehend why his comments are offensive, but it exposes how far he remains from functioning successfully in the world Carla and Giorgio have built.

Augusto's earlier awkward encounter with the secretary establishes his inability to navigate social situations appropriately.

The secretary, who held a position of leverage in Augusto's former life, seizes the opportunity presented by his return to pursue a personal agenda. Whether motivated by lingering resentment, a desire for power over the man who once employed her, or genuine attraction complicated by his vulnerability, her act of bringing him to her flat under false pretenses represents a form of exploitation. Augusto's frightened reaction and quick departure suggest the encounter was unwanted, and the incident establishes that his return exposes him to people who may take advantage of his weakened state.

This incident occurs early, establishing the precariousness of Augusto's position outside the clinic.

When Augusto meets Alcide, his old roommate from the clinic, the two share a moment of recognition that reinforces their shared outsider status. Rather than behaving appropriately on a live television program, they act out, perhaps as a form of rebellion against the sanitized representation of mental illness the show was presenting, or simply because they lack the inhibitions that would prevent such behavior. Their disruption is impulsive and unplanned, reflecting their inability to conform to social expectations even in a high-visibility setting. The moment underscores how far both men remain from successful reintegration into mainstream society.

The psychiatrist's invitation to appear on TV sets up the expectation that Augusto will engage with the media, making the disruption more surprising.

Augusto's acceptance of solitude comes from a quiet realization that his presence in Rosa's life, while meaningful, was ultimately temporary and perhaps not beneficial to her development. After the police search and forced return, after Rosa is sent to boarding school, and after witnessing her shift in affection toward her cousin, he understands that his role was always transitional. His own years of institutionalization have also prepared him for solitude in a way that younger, more socially integrated people might not understand. The ending is not resignation but a kind of peace, he chooses to remain apart so that Rosa can grow into her own life without the complications his presence creates.

Augusto's quiet observation of Rosa with her cousin, and his decision not to force a connection, shows his acceptance of the natural order of things.

The carnival night represents the emotional peak of Augusto and Rosa's bond, a rare moment of genuine connection outside the constraints of Carla's household. Walking through the festive streets, encountering a homeless man together, sharing wine in a bar, these shared experiences create memories that solidify their unusual relationship. However, the night also triggers the crisis that forces their separation: Carla's fear that Augusto is unfit to care for Rosa, the threat of recommitment, and Augusto's decision to flee. The carnival is both the fulfillment of their connection and the beginning of its end, marking the point of no return in their story.

The carnival's duality, joy and consequence, is established by the festive, permissive atmosphere that allows Augusto and Rosa to wander freely.