TORONTO – He may not be the most acclaimed or even busiest actor in Italy, but Michele Morrone is arguably the most followed and adored Italian screen actor outside of his home country. This is of course taking into account the scores of female fans [across all demographics] who circle him at every public appearance like sharks swarming a kill. Morrone rose to fame playing Don Massimo Torricelli, a Sicilian Crime Boss who “courts and seduces” a woman by kidnapping her for 365 days. Following the 50 Shades of Grey act – another book-turned-film about a BDSM affair – Morrone’s 365 film put to rest any doubt that the female gaze is every bit as perverse, or worse, than the male’s. 

Nonetheless, Morrone’s fans will be delighted that he’s returned to Netflix with – you guessed it – another #1 smash hit. The film is Subservience, a sci-fi thriller that co-stars Megan Fox as a malfunctioning robot housemaid, who much like real life Morrone fans, finds herself twisted in a bunch over her “Primary User”, Nick. The plot: Morrone plays a construction worker in a near futuristic world where A.I. helpers are ubiquitous and can be purchased on the mass market. With his wife recently hospitalized over heart failure, Nick does the charitable thing and purchases a fantastically beautiful robot to fill in for his ailing wife.

For curious minds, imagine a mash-up of Terminator and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, or Ex Machina if it was written by a couple of teenage girls – or boys. This is not to say that the film isn’t entertaining or without merit, or that Morrone and Fox are poor. On the contrary, if you switch your brain off and down a scotch or two, you mind just enjoy the ride.

Morrone who fancies himself a multi-faceted Artist with an arsenal of trades including acting, musicianship, modelling and fashion design – can only be complimented on his success. He honed his craft doing small projects like web-series, music videos and short films before taking part in the 11th season of Italy’s Dancing with the Stars in 2016. Four years later, he was cast in a Polish produced erotic thriller (365) that would catapult him to International fame. And while he’s by no means a seasoned dramatic actor, his performance in Subservience shows promise. Not to mention it’s entirely in English.

What it also shows is that Italians can sell a movie not only in America, but globally. His co-star Megan Fox is perhaps one of her generation’s most popular actresses, a sex symbol and household name celebrity. And yet it’s not entirely clear to me that the movie is #1 on Netflix because of her. In an age where even unknown actors are expected to have an online followership if they want to secure a role, social media fanbase has become a metric for marketability.

And if a Social Media following is anything to measure popularity by, Morrone went from 2M followers in 2020 to his current 16M after the film 365. While Fox, who’s been gracing red carpets since her 2007 appearance in Transformers, is stagnated at 21M. Perhaps the more telling comparison is with Hollywood’s “it” actor right now – Timothy Chalomet. Accomplished, acclaimed and equally objectified, has only 3M more followers than Morrone on Instagram.

It’s not the world I live in, nor even enjoy discussing, but Morrone reminds us of an indisputable truth: That Italy is a country which bears much fruit. And that most certainly includes beautiful and talented actors and actress who should be gracing Hollywood screens. Morrone is just the tip of the iceberg.

Subservience Poster and Scene Images courtesy of Netflix    

Massimo Volpe is a filmmaker and freelance writer from Toronto: he writes reviews of Italian films/content on Netflix