southern butterflies with jealous girlfriends

A Sicilian and a Neapolitan united by their passion for women and the presence of two girlfriends, a little jealous, very naive and naturally submissive. The first admits to always having a Mr. Hydean unsuspecting double ready to come out as soon as he is out of her control, the second claims his status as ‘Malaise‘, what is considered in Naples the zero degree of toxic man: jealous with her, flirtatious with the others. It seems like the plot of a movie, but instead it is the main course served by first episode of Temptation Island.

Tony is the Sicilian, Lino is the Neapolitan. We don’t know where the production sourced these two very pure specimens of southern males, white, hetero, cis, but they definitely hit the mark right from the first sequence. In fact, they are the first to enter the village and – surprise! – they find themselves with all the temptresses engaged in a game of beach volleyball. The tight editing (they are now specialized in Temptation Island) and the right music (Scatman!) leave no room for doubt: we are in a very Italian film and the two, more than the untouchables Boldi and De Sica, remember the unfortunate brothers of Biagio Izzo and Salvatore Ficarra for their language. The jokes are the right ones: the Neapolitan who between a ‘mammà’ and a ‘they don’t really keep up’ admits to having lost count of the game because there are too many asses bouncing; the Sicilian, with winks like a buffoon, walks around the field and announces that he is checking the lines. “How long are we?” asks one of the temptresses to Lino who replies: “5 to 5”, “But are we still 5 to 5?”, she smiles slyly, well aware of being Lino’s distraction.

The counterpart is the usual one. The repressed, moderately jealous girlfriend who takes her boyfriend to Temptation Island as a last desperate move, to understand if There is o it makes us or both. The companions are practically identical in character, social and, with subtle differences, even physical characteristics if we look at their dinghy mouths. Jenny is Tony’s girlfriend, very sweet while watch a video of him confessing that he always has Mr. Hyde ready to come out when she’s not there. Very sweet because three of them have to explain the reference to Stevenson’s famous story to him and the resulting metaphor of the dual personality. Alessia is no less than among a “But I bet you?” it’s a “Help us” the Italian stands out less than Geolier.

Prime time arrives and the cinecomero of Temptation Island offers the evening that one would expect from a film of this type. Two temptresses lead the way and our protagonists cling to each other between red wine, pop music and jokes. In pinnetu women cry as they watch their boyfriends let go: “We’ll find the suitcases tomorrow morning,” they laugh and dance. Lino shows great acting skills (there are several auditions on TikTok) the next day, when he plays a prank on all his travel companions by declaring that Alessia has asked for an immediate confrontation bonfire (something that Alessia will then seriously ask for). “The way I know him…the way I know him…I’ve only known him for a short time but I’m realizing he’s being serious”Ficarra without Picone continues to repeat. But Lino is the Biagio Izzo of the situation, reveals the joke and insults the Sicilian: “As I know him, as I know him? But who do you know?”. The return of Scatman in the background does the rest. Temptation Island is a perfect machine for those seeking disengagement. We laugh heartily at these characters now. After all, we all know how kinecocomeres end. Tony and Lino will apologize with their tails between their legs as soon as their companions start to get serious with some tempter too. Pi pa pa para po!