{{Short description|2024 Italian film}} {{Infobox film | name = | image = Feeling Better.jpg | alt = | caption = | native_name = {{Infobox name module|Italian|Nonostante}} | director = Valerio Mastandrea | writer = {{Plainlist| * Enrico Audenino * Valerio Mastandrea}} | producer = {{Plainlist| * Viola Prestieri * Valeria Golino * Francesco Tatò * Oscar Glioti * Moreno Zani * Malcom Pagani }} | starring = {{Plainlist| * Valerio Mastandrea * Dolores Fonzi }} | cinematography = Guido Michelotti | editing = Chiara Vullo | music = Tóti Gudnason | studio = {{Plainlist| * HT Film * Damocle * Tenderstories (with Rai Cinema) }} | distributor = BiM Distribuzione | released = {{Film date|df=y|2024|08|28|Venice|ref1=<ref name="ce">{{cite web |last1=Scarpa |first1=Vittoria |title=Valerio Mastandrea takes Nonostante to Venice |url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/464764 |website=Cineuropa |access-date=29 July 2024}}</ref>}} | runtime = 93 minutes<ref name="venice">{{cite web |title=Nonostante |url=https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2024/orizzonti/nonostante |website=Venice Biennale Cinema 2024 |access-date=29 July 2024}}</ref> | country = Italy | language = Italian | budget = | gross = }} '''''Feeling Better''''' ({{Langx|it|Nonostante|lit=Despite}}) is a 2024 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Valerio Mastandrea from a screenplay by Mastrandea and Enrico Audenino. The film stars Mastandrea and Dolores Fonzi as a hospital patients with different perspectives on life and illness.<ref name="ce" />
Mastandrea's second feature film as director, ''Nonostante'' was selected to open the ''Orizzonti'' sidebar competition at the 81st Venice International Film Festival on 28 August 2024.<ref name="ce" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Vivarelli |first1=Nick |title=Venice: Fandango Takes Sales on Horizons Opener ‘Feeling Better,’ Reveals Moody New Clip (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2024/film/festivals/venice-fandango-sales-horizons-opener-feeling-better-1236097009/ |access-date=2 September 2024 |work=Variety |date=22 August 2024}}</ref>
== Premise == In a hospital, comatose patients live a parallel life separated from their mortal bodies, able to interact with each other but not with others—patients, doctors, visitors, etc. The protagonist (unnamed, like all the other characters) lives his condition lightheartedly until a young woman, the victim of a car accident, is admitted to the hospital in a coma. This upsets his equilibrium, drawing him into a love story lived intensely "despite" the precariousness of their situation, suspended between life and death.<ref name="thr">{{cite news |last1=Roxborough |first1=Scott |title=‘Nonostante,’ ‘September 5’ to Open Venice Horizons Sidebar |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/nonostante-september-5-premiere-venice-horizons-sidebar-1235953945/ |access-date=29 July 2024 |agency=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref>
== Cast == * Valerio Mastandrea as Him * Dolores Fonzi as Her * Lino Musella as Curiosone * Giorgio Montanini as Volontario * Justin Alexandre Korovkin as Young Nonostante * Barbara Ronchi as Curiosone's Wife * Luca Lionello as Nonostante Sfascio * Laura Morante as Veteran * Claudia Della Seta as Caposala * Stefania Orsola Garello as Nonostante Forestiera
== Production == Principal photography for ''Feeling Better'' took place between September and November 2023 in the ''frazioni'' of Fregenae and Maccarese within Fiumicino.<ref name="ifm">{{cite web |title=Valerio Mastandrea gira sul litorale romano ‘Nonostante’ |url=https://www.italyformovies.it/news/detail/1826/valerio-mastandrea-gira-sul-litorale-romano-nonostante |website=Italy for Movies |access-date=29 July 2024}}</ref> The film was shot by cinematographer Guido Michelotti and edited by Chiara Vullo.<ref name="ce" /> Tóti Gudnason composed the original score for the film.<ref name="rai">{{cite web |title="Despite", by and with Valerio Mastandrea |url=https://www.raicultura.it/cinema/articoli/2024/07/Nonostante-di-e-con-Valerio-Mastandrea-ae92f94b-20fd-4520-b584-dbc85da7dac3.html |website=Rai Cultura |access-date=29 July 2024}}</ref>
== Release == ''Feeling Better'' premiered on 28 August 2024, where it opened the ''Orizzonti'' sidebar section of that year's Venice Film Festival.<ref name="ce" />
== Reception == The film has been described as "a small and surreal romantic comedy that nevertheless deviates from the usual ghost film thanks to its very original central idea",<ref>{{cite news |last1=De Marco |first1=Camillo |title=Review: Feeling Better |url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/466147 |access-date=2 September 2024 |work=Cineuropa |date=29 August 2024 |language=en}}</ref> and "one of the more accessible cinematic takes on existentialism", featuring "a crowd-pleasing sweep and quirky verve".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Amber |title=Feeling Better (2024) Movie Review |url=https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/feeling-better-2024-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson |access-date=2 September 2024 |work=Eye for Film |date=28 August 2024}}</ref>
=== Accolades === {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" ! scope="col" | Award ! scope="col" | Ceremony date ! scope="col" | Category ! scope="col" | Recipient ! scope="col" | Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Ref. |- ! scope="row" | Venice Film Festival | 07 September 2024 | ''Orizzonti'' Award for Best Film | ''Nonostante'' | {{Nominated}} | align="center" | <ref name="ce" /> |}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb title|tt29429122}}
Category:2024 Italian films Category:2024 Italian-language films Category:Rai Cinema films Category:Italian drama films Category:Films shot in Lazio Category:Films set in hospitals