Vermiglio (2024) on Netflix

Plot summary

In the winter of 1944, two Italian soldiers retreating from the war reach Vermiglio, a remote village in the mountains. Attilio grew up there; Pietro, a Sicilian, saved his life. Pietro remains in the village as a deserter and sleeps in the outhouse belonging to Attilio's widowed mother, and some villagers resent him. Vermiglio's school has a single room and a stern teacher, Cesare, who is Attilio's uncle. Adele, his wife, has just given birth to a ninth child. Lucia, their eldest daughter, is the village beauty, and she falls in love with Pietro, who cannot read or write. She asks him whether they are engaged, and he says yes.