Netflix's Italian mystery comedy-drama, Fantasy Football Ruined Our Lives, is about a group of friends united by their passion for fantasy football. They ran into trouble when one of their friends, Gianni, disappeared after his bachelor party. On his wedding day, Gianni was nowhere to be seen. His bride-to-be tried to contact him but couldn't; his best friends had no idea where he was, and it was almost as if he had simply vanished. His friends, fantasy football fans, were more concerned about the fact that Gianni hadn't turned in his fantasy team by the deadline.
The police arrived at the wedding venue and arrested Giani's best friends: Simone, Federico, Nicola, Jacopo, and Francesco. Federico, a lawyer, had agreed to represent his friends when the case came before a judge. In addition to thoroughly searching the venue where Gianni held his bachelor party, the police suspected something bloody had happened the night before. There was blood on the floor, and because Simone had repeatedly told Gianni via text message that she would kill him, the police suspected he had murdered his friend. Simone explained that it was all a joke. Since he and his friends were obsessed with fantasy football, they often had heated arguments and conflicts. But murdering his best friend over it was unthinkable.
Director: Alessio Maria Federici
Writers: Giulio Carrieri, Michele Bertini Malgarini, Roberta Breda
Stars: Giacomo Ferrara, Silvia D'Amico, Enrico Borello
Simone used to live on Gianni's couch. They were very close, and when Gianni decided to marry Bianca, his longtime partner, Simone had no choice but to move in with his grandmother. Simone was happy for his best friend, but it was undeniable that moving out of Gianni's apartment was a very emotional moment for him. Although Gianni had assumed that marriage was the obvious next step, he didn't feel very well after making the decision. Gianni and his friends were obsessed with fantasy football and often spent most of their days discussing strategies, and anyone unfamiliar with the world they lived in would consider their passion a waste of time. Bianca thought the same and often expressed her disappointment in Gianni.
Meanwhile, Gianni and his new teammate, Andrea, had become friends. Andrea was the only woman in the group, and from the moment Simone met her, he was obsessed with her. He'd planned to ask her out, but always ran out of steam when the time came. One day, Gianni and Andrea started talking and realized they enjoyed each other's company. Gianni had dropped Andrea off at her house, and although they had initially decided to call it a night, they ended up having a physical relationship. Later, when Simone finally worked up the courage to ask Andrea out, she was already with Gianni. Simone was heartbroken, and Gianni knew that sleeping with the girl his best friend liked wasn't the right thing to do. Both Gianni and Andrea knew their fling wasn't going to be anything serious, and they felt bad for having hurt Simone, so they decided to end their brief romance.
At Gianni's bachelor party, when the guys played truth and dare, Gianni admitted to cheating on Bianca. He didn't mention who the woman was, but Simone soon started putting two and two together. He suddenly remembered seeing Gianni's rug at Andrea's house. Gianni realized it was time to come clean to his best friend. Just as he was about to confess, Simone declared that she had already figured out that Gianni had cheated on Bianca with Andrea. Simone was devastated and furious at the same time; she had grabbed Gianni's championship trophy and, as far back as she could remember, wanted to attack Gianni with it, but she had no recollection of how things had played out.
During the "Fantasy Football Ruined Our Lives" finale, the police approached the judge and informed her that they had found the main surveillance camera and that the footage showed what had happened the night before. By then, Simone had already confessed to killing Gianni, although he barely remembered it, but she assumed that since he was drugged and extremely frustrated, he might have done the unthinkable. But the surveillance footage told a completely different story. Simone had grabbed the trophy, but instead of attacking Gianni with it, he collapsed on the floor while vomiting. Simone instantly passed out.
Gianni tripped and fell to the floor while vomiting. But Gianni didn't pass out, although he suffered a cut on his forehead. He stood up and wiped Simone's face. He walked into the living room and looked at his friends in admiration. According to the footage, before leaving, Gianni wrote a note and put it in Simone's coat pocket. After watching the recording, Simone searched her pocket and found the note. In his letter, Gianni wrote that he realized he wasn't meant to get married, have children, and live in a quiet, posh neighborhood; that wasn't the vision he had for his life, so he decided to abandon Bianca and simply disappear.
Bianca felt miserable after being left at the altar, but she still wanted to see Gianni one last time to close the chapter. When she met up with her friends at a bar, she told them it wasn't Fantasy Football that brought them together; Simone agreed, stating that they were all quitters, and that, ultimately, that was what united them. They were all afraid to face their fears, so they chose to abandon them. Simone aspired to be a screenwriter but never tried to make her dream a reality. Francesco had locked himself in his room because he had only taken two exams in seven years and was afraid to face the fact that he hadn't graduated. Jacopo wanted to quit drugs, but he never managed. Instead of supporting his family, Nicola had invested all his time and effort into fantasy football, so his wife eventually kicked him out of the house. Federico preferred to keep busy with his work and fantasy football so he wouldn't have to confess to his parents, for fear of their reaction. Everyone was running away from something, and fantasy football allowed them to escape. But this time, Simone and her friends decided not to let Gianni get away. As his lifelong best friend, Simone knew exactly where he was. Mykonos was usually Gianni and Simone's ideal retreat, and it also happened to be the place where they first smoked a joint. So, when Gianni disappeared, Simone knew he had ended up in Mykonos.
In the "Fantasy Football Ruined Our Lives" finale, Simone and her friends arrived in Mykonos and eventually found Gianni at a local restaurant. Gianni was happy to see his friends, but he also sensed that Simone was very disappointed. The friends briefly argued; Gianni asked them to give him another chance, and they eventually forgave him. Simone wasn't surprised when Gianni said he planned to live permanently in Mykonos; it was his inner deserter/escapist that convinced him that living in a foreign country was the only option left. But the one lesson Simone had learned after everything they'd been through was that escaping wasn't really the solution. It made one feel temporarily relaxed, but they had to face the consequences of their actions sooner or later. To Gianni's surprise, Bianca showed up. She wanted closure, and Simone decided Gianni should talk to her one last time.
The friends were still obsessed with fantasy football; it was the only thing that gave them hope in their lives, and that hadn't changed. But they had learned to be more responsible in their daily lives. Nicola decided to apologize to his wife and get back together with him, but he soon discovered that she was involved with Leonardo Pavoletti, one of his favorite footballers. Instead of being disheartened, Nicola ended up taking a selfie with him. Federico finally worked up the courage to confess to his parents. His mother didn't take it well; she fainted instantly, and his father was speechless, although his butler enthusiastically congratulated him! Things didn't exactly go as Federico had planned, but at least he didn't have to live with the constant guilt of having to lie to his parents. After the case, the judge and the police also became interested in fantasy football and ended up devoting a few hours of their day to it.
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