I nostri ragazzi

I am a parent. Perhaps you are, as well. Can you even try to imagine the nightmare of your child taking part in a savagely inhuman and completely inexplicable act of violence? Me either. However, this is the devastating struggle inflicted on two upper class Italian couples and their desensitized, privileged kids in the searing drama "The Dinner".

The acting here is first-rate across the board. For my lira the husband and wife played by Luigi Lo Cascio and Giovanna Mezzogiorno (a dead ringer for American actress Debra Winger) and their son portrayed by Jacopo Olmo Antinori shine brightest in this story that is as wrenchingly hard to watch as it is to process.

"The Dinner" is the second of three films produced in a trio of different countries (Holland and The United States being the others) based on the novel by Dutch author Herman Koch. And for some reason it generally seems to be the lowest regarded of the group. I definitely intend to see the other two cinematic interpretations of Koch's book now.

Still, it is very hard to believe that I will find either one of them to be superior to this emotionally gripping stunner.