I will steal you the scene!

I Will Steal You the Scene A film by Francesco Bonelli In a sleepy, forgotten village deep in the Italian countryside, life has faded into silence. The theater is shuttered, dreams are dusty, and the locals — aging, suspicious, resigned — live in quiet, bitter repetition. When the once-glorious Stramaglia Theater Company rolls into town, everything begins to shift. The company is led by Carlo, a celebrated actor recovering from a heart attack, and financed by the Countess, a wealthy widow still in love with him after decades apart. She dreams of staging one final masterpiece — and perhaps reviving their old passion. But the real story begins with Marcello, Carlo’s disillusioned son, and Maddalena, the Countess’s granddaughter — wild, bright, and suffocating in the dusty village. Maddalena has no theater experience, but a fire in her chest. For her, the arrival of the troupe is salvation. She will do anything to step on that stage. And in this little town, the only way out is the scene. Tensions mount. Marcello's wife Maura grows suspicious. Rosalinda, the village’s invisible flower seller, claws her way into the company. Ernesto, the corrupt mayor and local pawnbroker, does everything to sabotage them. As rehearsals progress, the line between life and performance begins to blur — and behind the scenes, a desperate plan to rob Ernesto’s safe unfolds. Just when the troupe seems ready to triumph — to escape, to reclaim their dreams, to stage something beautiful — the story takes a sharp, dramatic turn. A single, unexpected moment shatters the illusion. Laughter halts. Masks fall. The reality, harsh and irreversible, crashes in. Without giving it away, this turning point redefines everything that came before and transforms what could have been a simple comedy into something deeper, darker, and unforgettable. Yet even then — perhaps especially then — the theater remains. Fragile but defiant. A last refuge. A final act of beauty. I Will Steal You the Scene is a bittersweet and whimsical fable about lost dreams, small-town tyranny found courage, and the transformative power of stepping into the spotlight — even when the lights go out.