Sole

Illegal surrogacy spirals out of control when a Polish woman sells her child to a wealthy Italian couple, in a début that exposes the new European class society.

When Lena arrives in Italy to sell her child to her peer, Ermanno, (playing the child’s father) in order to facilitate the adoption for his uncle, who together with his wife eagerly awaits the child. At the same time, he is ordered to surveil the surrogate mother to make sure she is taking care of herself. But when the child comes too soon, the pragmatic Lena stays at home to nurse it. She bonds with the daughter and the weary Ermanno bonds to them both. In a well-composed and spartan, dark drama with blue tones, Carlo Sironi blends Italian neo-realism and Eastern European austerity, raising questions about human value, class and how love can take root where you least expect it.

• Camilla Larsson