SimilarScreen
It Was the Son

It Was the Son

20126.91h 30m

Overview

The Ciraulo family lives in the miserable district of Palermo called "Zen". When one of their children dies in a shootout between mafia gangsters they receive compensation and buy a luxury black Volvo. Things go wrong when Trancredi, another son, takes the car out and damages the car door.

Directed by Daniele Ciprì
Written by Roberto Alajmo, Daniele Ciprì, Massimo Gaudioso
Produced by Alessandra Acciai, Giorgio Magliulo
Box OfficeBudget: $2.1MRevenue: $1.1M

Top Cast

Toni Servillo

Toni Servillo

Nicola Ciraulo

Giselda Volodi

Giselda Volodi

Loredana Ciraulo

Alfredo Castro

Alfredo Castro

Busu

Fabrizio Falco

Fabrizio Falco

Tancredi Ciraulo

Aurora Quattrocchi

Aurora Quattrocchi

Nonna Rosa

Benedetto Raneli

Benedetto Raneli

Nonno Fonzio

G

Giacomo Civiletti

Un amico di Nicola

Gino Carista

Gino Carista

Il prete

M

Mauro Spitaleri

Avvocato Modica

P

Piero Misuraca

Masino

Themes & Keywords

palermo, sicilymafia

About It Was the Son

It Was the Son is a comedy, crime, drama film released in 2012 exploring themes of palermo, sicily, mafia. Directed by Daniele Ciprì, it stars Toni Servillo, Giselda Volodi, Alfredo Castro. The Ciraulo family lives in the miserable district of Palermo called "Zen". When one of their children dies in a shootout between mafia gangsters they receive compensation and buy a luxury black Volvo. Things go wrong when Trancredi, another son, takes the car out and damages the car door.

Movies Similar to It Was the Son

Discover titles like It Was the Son — ranked by similarity and community votes

We found 15 movies similar to It Was the Son

If you enjoyed It Was the Son, you'll love these handpicked recommendations. Each title below shares similar themes, tone, and storytelling style. Our algorithm analyzes genres, keywords, director filmography, and cast connections to find the closest matches. Whether you're looking for the same emotional depth, narrative structure, or visual style, these picks are curated to deliver the best viewing experience for fans of It Was the Son.

Il delitto Mattarella
49% Match

January 6, 1980. President of the Sicily Piersanti Mattarella is going to Mass with his family when a young man approaches his car and shoots him in cold blood, killing him. The young Deputy Prosecutor on duty that day is Pietro Grasso, future General Anti-Mafia Prosecutor and President of the Italian Senate. His investigations are continued by Giovanni Falcone, who uncovers dangerous connections between the Mafia, the ruling Christian Democratic Party, neo-fascist terrorists, and secret services.

The Traitor
41% Match

Palermo, Sicily, 1980. Mafia member Tommaso Buscetta decides to move to Brazil with his family fleeing the constant war between the different clans of the criminal organization. But when, after living several misfortunes, he is forced to return to Italy, he makes a bold decision that will change his life and the destiny of Cosa Nostra forever.

Come Into the Light
41% Match

In 1990s Palermo, Pino Puglisi is a priest from the neglected Brancaccio neighborhood dedicated in helping kids to get off the streets and creating an embracing place of hope and solidarity in his church, which means trouble for the local Mafia. He continues his solitary fight until the bitter end.

Black Souls
34% Match

A former narcotics smuggler, now living peaceably in the Calabrian hills, is drawn back into his family’s drug-trade dynasty by his impetuous teenage son.

I Am the Law
34% Match

Sicily, Fascist Italy, 1925. Dictator Benito Mussolini appoints Cesare Mori, a man as tough as he is honest, as the new police prefect of Palermo and entrusts him with the arduous task of putting an end to the Mafia, a sinister criminal organization that has sown terror on the island for centuries.

Mafia Is Not What It Used to Be
34% Match

Palermo, Sicily, Italy, 2017. Twenty-five years after the murders of anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone, on May 23, 1992, and Paolo Borsellino, on July 19, 1992; and on the occasion of the tributes held in memory of both heroes, skeptical photographer Letizia Battaglia, chronicler of their titanic combat, criticizes the opportunism of shady characters who, like businessman Ciccio Mira, profit from the commemoration of both tragedies.

To Die For
33% Match

To Die For(1995)

Movie6.6/10

Suzanne Stone wants to be a world-famous news anchor and she is willing to do anything to get what she wants. What she lacks in intelligence, she makes up for in cold determination and diabolical wiles. As she pursues her goal with relentless focus, she is forced to destroy anything and anyone that may stand in her way, regardless of the ultimate cost or means necessary.

Sicilian Letters
32% Match

Loosely based on real events that took place during Matteo Messina Denaro's thirty years on the run. A disgraced politician is gifted a second chance when secret services involve him in an operation to root out an elusive Mafia boss. Using his personal connection as the Boss' godfather, his task is to get him to reveal his hiding place in their secret letters.

Baaria
32% Match

Baaria(2009)

Movie7.2/10

Giuseppe Tornatore traces three generations of a Sicilian family in in the Sicilian town of Bagheria (known as Baarìa in the local Sicilian dialect), from the 1930s to the 1980s, to tell the story of the loves, dreams and delusions of an unusual community.

The Day of the Owl
31% Match

Set in Sicily, this violent crime drama tells the tale of an Italian cop who heads to a small island town to look into the death of a construction supplier. Once there he is shocked by the influence the Mafia has over the people and even himself.

Police Academy: Mission to Moscow
31% Match

The Russians seek help in dealing with the Mafia from the veterans of the Police Academy. They head off to Moscow, in order to find evidence against Konstantin Konali, who marketed a computer game that everyone in the world is playing.

Our Godfather
31% Match

The story of how Sicilian Mafia boss Tommaso Buscetta (1928-2000), the Godfather of Two Worlds, revealed, starting in 1984, the deepest secrets of the organization, thus helping to convict the hundreds of mafiosi who were tried in the trial held in Palermo between 1986 and 1987.

A Prophet
30% Match

A Prophet(2009)

Movie7.6/10

Sentenced to six years in prison, Malik El Djebena is alone in the world and can neither read nor write. On his arrival at the prison, he seems younger and more brittle than the others detained there. At once he falls under the sway of a group of Corsicans who enforce their rule in the prison. As the 'missions' go by, he toughens himself and wins the confidence of the Corsican group.

Vault
30% Match

Vault(2019)

Movie5.7/10

A group of small time criminals in 1975 attempt to pull off the biggest heist in American history; stealing over $30 million from the Mafia in the smallest state in the union, Rhode Island.