Toscana: Stunning landscapes overshadow a shaky script

The opening shot of Toscana lingers on a winding road cutting through rolling hills, the golden light of Tuscany casting long shadows over cypress trees. It’s a postcard-perfect vision of Italy, one that director Mehdi Avaz leans into with every frame. The film follows Theo (Anders Matthesen), a Danish chef who arrives in Tuscany to sell his late father’s vineyard, only to be derailed by Sophia (Cristiana Dell’Anna), a local woman who challenges his pragmatic worldview.

Avaz’s direction is grounded in the region’s natural beauty, and he makes the most of it. The cinematography—all sun-dappled vineyards and quaint hilltop villages—is undeniably striking, turning Tuscany itself into a character. When Theo wanders through the countryside or shares wine with Sophia under a starry sky, the film hums with a quiet charm. Even the smaller moments, like a meal prepared with fresh local ingredients or a spontaneous dance in an empty piazza, feel alive.

But Toscana stumbles when it tries to balance its romantic and dramatic impulses. The script, co-written by Avaz, leans too heavily on broad comedy—Theo’s fish-out-of-water antics (mispronouncing Italian words, clashing with the vineyard staff) grow tired quickly. Worse, the film struggles to reconcile its breezy tone with moments of genuine emotional weight, particularly Theo’s grief over his father’s death. A late-night conversation between Theo and Sophia about loss is one of the few scenes where the film’s heart feels earned, but it’s buried under too much lighthearted banter.

The performances are a mixed bag. Matthesen carries the film with an affable, everyman energy, though he’s occasionally outmatched by Dell’Anna, who brings warmth and depth to Sophia. Andrea Bosca, as the vineyard’s head worker Pino, steals scenes with his dry wit and effortless charisma. The supporting cast—including Ghita Nørby as Theo’s mother and Sebastian Jessen as a friend from Denmark—add texture but are often underutilized.

The film’s greatest sin is its predictability. From the meet-cute in a local market to the inevitable conflict with a rival vineyard owner, Toscana follows every beat of the rom-com playbook without adding anything fresh. Even its climax—a race against time to save the vineyard—lacks tension because we’ve seen it all before.

Avaz clearly has an eye for beauty and a knack for capturing the essence of Tuscany, but Toscana never rises above the sum of its parts.