Melissa P.

Melissa P. is a 2005 drama about a fifteen-year-old girl in Sicily whose father works far from home and who lives with her mother and grandmother. Curious about boys, she fixates on a local youth, Daniele, who takes what he wants from her and then discards her. Hurt and angry, she decides to treat men the same way, pursuing sex without affection and keeping the upper hand, while writing down her experiences. Her behavior grows increasingly reckless and self-destructive, bringing confusion and disappointment rather than the control she sought.

The film adapts Melissa Panarello's bestselling autobiographical novel, published under the title One Hundred Strokes of the Brush Before Bed, which became a sensation in Italy and was likened by commentators to a modern Lolita. Luca Guadagnino directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Cristiana Farina and Barbara Alberti. It is the third of the 13 films he has directed, following The Making of Lotus and preceding I Am Love. María Valverde plays Melissa, with Geraldine Chaplin as her grandmother Elvira, Primo Reggiani as Daniele, Letizia Ciampa as Manuela, Fabrizia Sacchi as Daria and Claudio Santamaria as a museum guard. It runs 100 minutes, was produced across Spain, Italy and the United States, and took about 7 million dollars worldwide.

Audience response has been muted: on IMDb it holds 4.7 out of 10 from roughly 7,600 votes, and on TMDB 4.7 out of 10 from some 616 votes.