The Sicilian Girl

Marco Amenta's film is based on the true story of Rita Atria, a Sicilian teenager whose judicial testimony against the Mafia in the 1980s represented a very rare break in the taboo of openly identifying mob activities. Rita first encounters Mafia violence at the age of 11, when she witnesses her father's assassination in a village square. Six years later, Rita (as played by Veronica D'Agostino) comes into young adulthood with an unusual degree of self-confidence and a willingness to voluntarily identify Sicilian mob leaders. Armed with a half-decade's worth of diary entries and photographs to implicate the criminal chieftains, Rita's crusade winds up destroying her relationships with her family and a boyfriend who has become part of the Mafia. Rita also doesn't endear herself with the Italian government, particularly when she balks at the requirements of the nation's witness protection system. However, her attachment to one of the prosecutors in her case opens up a new emotional avenue for Rita, with unexpected results. The weight of The Sicilian Girl rests almost entirely on D'Agostino's performance, a viscerally powerful turn that is equal parts terrifying and exhilarating as Rita embarks on her laser-focused quest for revenge—willing to sacrifice everything to achieve her goal. Recommended. (P. Hall)