Loro

Paolo Sorrentino's Loro is a drama about the circle of businessmen, politicians and hangers-on who gravitate toward Silvio Berlusconi, the media magnate and politician at the centre of Italian public life between roughly 2006 and 2009. A young and ambitious Sergio Morra, who has made his money in questionable provincial dealings, sees proximity to Berlusconi as the fastest route to greater wealth and power, and throws himself into the parties, the showgirls and the extravagance that surround Il Cavaliere. Around this pair moves a larger constellation of the wealthy, the corrupt and the hopeful, each drawn by ambition, admiration or self-interest toward the man they believe can deliver them something.

The film is Sorrentino's eighth feature, following Youth, and it was released after his two-part Italian version of the same material, Loro 1 and Loro 2. Toni Servillo, a recurring presence in Sorrentino's work, plays Berlusconi, with Elena Sofia Ricci, Riccardo Scamarcio, Kasia Smutniak, Euridice Axén and Fabrizio Bentivoglio among a credited cast of 120. Sorrentino wrote the screenplay with Umberto Contarello, and the producers were Francesca Cima, Nicola Giuliano and Viola Prestieri.

The film had a budget of about 21 million dollars and took roughly 2 million dollars worldwide, a wide gap between its cost and its returns. Audiences are divided but not dismissive: it holds a 6.7 rating on IMDb from around 8,200 votes and the same 6.7 on TMDB from some 361 votes. The critics' rating of 6.6 from 77 reviews puts professional opinion in line with that audience response rather than sharply apart from it.