Children of the Monkey (Italian: I figli della scimmia) is a 2026 Italian drama film directed by Tommaso Landucci, in his feature directorial debut, and co-written with Damiano Femfert. It stars Riccardo Scamarcio, Fausto Russo Alesi, Lidiya Liberman, Cristina Odasso, and Tancredi Naldini.
The film had its world premiere in the Orizzonti section of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on 7 September 2026, where it won the section's Best Screenplay and Best Actor (for Scamarcio). It will be theatrically released in Italy by Medusa Film on 17 September.
Contents
Cast
Riccardo Scamarcio as Dario
Fausto Russo Alesi as Roberto
Lidiya Liberman as Ginevra
Cristina Odasso as Linda
Tancredi Naldini as Giacomo
Andrea Aggio as Enrico
Luigi Diberti as Dario's father
Production
The film's screenplay won the 2021 Premio Solinas and the 2023 Grand Prize at the Sam Spiegel International Film Lab. The film was produced by Lungta Film, Lebowski and Mosaicon Film. James Ivory served as executive producer. It was shot in Turin between January and February 2026.
The title is a reference to Aesop's fable The Monkeys and Their Mother, which served as inspiration for the script.
Release
The film had its world premiere in the Orizzonti section of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on 7 September, where Tommaso Landucci and Damiano Femfert won the section's Best Screenplay prize and Riccardo Scamarcio won the Best Actor prize.
It was theatrically released in Italy by Medusa Film on 17 September 2026.
Reception
Cineuropa's critic Camillo De Marco praised the film, highlighting Landucci's "sure-handed command of writing" and "stripped-down directorial approach". Micropsia called the film "remarkably realistic in its portrayal of parents raising a disabled child" and "both deeply felt and impressively sensitive", but criticized the secondary storylines as underdeveloped. Matthew Joseph Jenner from International Cinephile Society lauded the film, giving it a 4/5 rating and noting it is "evidence that some stories are most effective when they are told without embellishment, and instead take a more direct path, in which meaning is prioritised over spectacle or overwrought emotions.