DIRECTOR
Margherita Ferri
Zen sul ghiaccio sottile

STARS
Samuele Carrino, Claudia Pandolfi, Andrea Arru and Sara Ciocca

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”

At best, this idiom could improve resilience in kids subject to all kinds of taunts received via many communication methods available to us in 2025. What this mantra does, however, is teach us that damaging words said by someone else is acceptable and does nothing to place accountability back onto them.

The simple fact is, WORDS DO HURT.

It is not up to the receiver of words to learn to take them or toughen up. It is on the perpetrator typing and/or speaking them to simply stop. It is also up to the remainder of us to consistently enforce that. To stand-up for the recipients and stand-up to the aggressors.

Words that hurt me won’t necessarily hurt you. Conversely, words that hurt you may not cause harm to me. The common denominator here is the fact there is at least one word out there that if applied to you, is guaranteed to hurt. When used harmfully, words unjustly label, reject and isolate people.

This harmful and unjust labelling, rejection and isolation builds up and becomes unbearable and often invisible pain that for many has and continues to be so severe, only one irreversible way out can be seen.

This is precisely and tragically what happened to the real-life victim of the story depicted in The Boy With Pink Trousers. I promise it is not a spoiler to reveal this. The filmmakers need us to know this and ensure viewers are on the front foot of the fate to befall its kind and talented young protagonist, Andrea (Samuele Carrino).

A loose adaptation of the autobiographical novel Andrea’s mother penned after her son took his own life in 2012, The Boy With Pink Trousers quite incredibly became the highest grossing Italian film of 2024 in Italy despite a lack of marketing and a lower budget. A pleasing result I hope and believe it can repeat in other countries around the globe. 

The story is predominantly rendered from Andrea’s perspective and is involving from the get-go but never resorts to melodrama. A fair majority of its duration is spent at the Rome high school he attended. What I most admired about The Boy With Pink Trousers throughout was its commitment to its purpose: for viewers to get to know who Andrea really was before labels were attached to him, to witness how words that would soon cause harm first started and how they were accommodated the breeding ground to survive, multiply, broaden and ultimately evolve into a case of severe bullying that all became too much to handle. The opportunity to observe the musical prodigy side of Andrea, the meaningful friendship he forms with a classmate outside of school, the infatuation he has for a fellow classmate and glimpses into his home life give viewers a well-rounded introspection of this gifted young boy and ensure that tissue box on standby is delayed in its usage. The subtlety and grace this film is handled is all class and it’s further complimented by an outstanding music score, terrific performances and is very affectionately captured too.

Words, and the torment and bullying they cause and lead to, has already claimed the lives of too many people. Especially children. This is just one of them. Folks, these are the most preventable of preventable deaths! We started this problem with our words. Now it is time to end it with our actions and words.

The Boy With Pink Trousers is showing in selected cinemas across Australia as part of the St. Ali Italian Film Festival from September 17th, 2025 to 22nd October, 2025.

Moviedoc thanks Miranda Brown Publicity and the St. Ali Italian Film Festival for providing a screener link to watch and review this film. 

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc

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