There’s Still Tomorrow – Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art

There’s Still Tomorrow is a powerful yet funny and emotional carrier of female voice that has become one of Italy’s biggest hits, overtaking blockbusters like Barbie and Oppenheimer thanks to one of the most surprising and satisfying film endings of recent years, among other things.

There’s Still Tomorrow is the debut of comedian and actress Paola Cortellesi, who, following in the footsteps of Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag), also plays the main role. We can all identify with Delia, since we too do the impossible on a daily basis: embracing home and work, children and elderly family members, soothing the husband’s bad mood or the teenage daughter’s emotions. Delia works her fingers to the bone, and all she gets in return is more blows, resentments and frowns. She is convinced that her daughter, who is about to marry, will suffer a similar fate. One day, however, a letter arrives which leads her to rebel and take on a daring behaviour no one expects from a housewife. There’s Still Tomorrow exudes a spirit of change, a belief in female power and solidarity. It is also an ode to the beautiful yet turbulent relationship between mothers and daughters.

This Italian blockbuster is set in post-war Rome recovering from the crisis and draws on the works of neorealism, but its contents are contemporary. For There’s Still Tomorrow speaks of a collective awakening of women who first dared to stand up against the legacy of violence. Mixing laughter and tears, directly touching on painful experiences, and as light as a Roman holiday, Cortellesi’s film proves that the future literally lies in our hands. Have we won ourselves more freedom since the days of our grandmothers? Yes, and we’d better keep a firm grip on it, says the director.

With Italian ballads playing in the background, Cortellesi’s film takes us on a journey through compassion, rage, laughter and emotion, confronting us with brutal truths but also conveying a great deal of hope.