The night after Thanksgiving dinner is often spent sitting around sleepily with a stomach stuffed with stuffing. However, for myself, the night after Thanksgiving dinner was spent at the movie theater with my family, including former Cinema Summaries writer Amelia Jáuregui, watching Ridley Scott’s latest film: House of Gucci.

Inspired by the true story of the Gucci family, the film follows Patrizia Reggiani, Lady Gaga, as she marries into the Gucci family and manipulates her husband Maurizio Gucci, Adam Driver, into taking an increased interest in the Gucci fashion empire so that she can further her own wealth and power. She pushes him to antagonize his family so that he may gain more power in the company, forcing his family out of the business before eventually being forced out himself. After realizing the toxicity of his relationship with Patrizia, Maurizio divorces her. Out of rage, Patrizia has her ex husband assassinated. Eventually being arrested and convicted for the crime, the movie ends with Patrizia in prison and no more members of the family remaining in the business which carries their name.

Naturally, the film takes creative liberties, especially so, as it’s “inspired” by a true story, rather than ‘based’ on a true story, the latter of which usually entails increased accuracy. In the film, several characters are combined into one, including members of the Gucci family as well as various lawyers and other key figures in the Gucci business. However, this is a common practice in films, and to effectively tell a story spanning decades in 2 and a half hours, I believe sacrifices like this are necessary to keep the audience engaged rather than overwhelmed.

Regardless of its accuracy, the film itself was incredible, featuring brilliant performances from all the leading cast, especially Lady Gaga, who I expect to be nominated for best-actress in next year’s Academy Awards. Additionally, known method-actor Jared Leto once again disappears into his role, this time as Paolo Gucci, a fashion designer who cannot seem to find success in his own family’s business. It’s almost impossible to tell that the character is played by Leto throughout most of the film, highlighting both Leto’s talent and the magnificent makeup and costume design for the film.

With COVID still present, I have not been able to view as many new movies as I would like. Mostly, the new releases I’ve seen have been mostly Marvel and other action movies, so this film was a much needed change of pace for me. With its start-studded cast and phenomenal story, House of Gucci is a film for anyone looking for a good movie to watch.