A young Swede named Fred finds herself in Trieste, on the cusp of her final year at training college in a testosterone-charged environment: surrounded by all-male classmates, she quickly becomes the centre of attention and an exotic object of desire. But what about her hopes and desires? Lighter in tone than 2022’s powerful Small Body (Discovery Prize at the European Film Awards), Laura Samani employs her signature anthropological style to delve deep into exploring stereotypes around what it means to be young and female. With her confidence and rebellious attitude, Fred shakes up the dynamic—quite literally—of a trio of friends (including Giacomo Covi, Best Actor in Venice’s Orizzonti section). A coming-of-age comedy drama all’italiana with a touch of nouvelle vague, Samani brings Giani Stuparich’s 1929 novel into the millennial generation: a world before social media, and before the dream of a Europe without borders gradually faded away.