# Close to Me (film)
**Close to Me** (Italian: *Muori di lei*) is a 2025 Italian-Serbian erotic thriller directed by Stefano Sardo, set in Rome during the 2020 Covid lockdown, in which a frustrated teacher becomes obsessed with his new neighbor.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/475223/) • [2](https://www.minervapicturesinternational.com/catalogue/close-to-me/) It was released in Italian cinemas on 20 March 2025 through Medusa Film.[3](https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/475226)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | *Muori di lei*; international title Close to Me[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/475223/) |
| Director and writers | Stefano Sardo, screenplay written with Giacomo Bendotti[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32478708/fullcredits/) |
| Lead cast | Riccardo Scamarcio (Luca), Maria Chiara Giannetta (Sara), Mariela Garriga (Amanda), Paolo Pierobon (Antonello)[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32478708/fullcredits/) |
| Production | Nightswim and Medusa Film, co-produced by Jelena Mitrović for Baš Čelik (Serbia)[3](https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/475226) |
| Italian release | 20 March 2025, distributed by Medusa Film[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/475223/) |
| Running time | 103 minutes (Cineuropa lists 99 minutes)[2](https://www.minervapicturesinternational.com/catalogue/close-to-me/) • [1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/475223/) |
| Budget and admissions | €4,398,527 budget; 71,723 admissions[5](https://www.marchedufilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/mdf26_cannes_remakes_catalog.pdf) |
## Plot
Luca and Sara, a couple in their early forties, are forced to stay home together around the clock during the Covid lockdown. Luca, a teacher in crisis who would like to be a writer, struggles with the fact that Sara, a hospital doctor always on call, is richer than he is; her father, a wealthy clinic owner, mocks him. Frustration gives way to a morbid interest in Amanda, the new neighbor, whom Luca spies on and watches from his window. When his desire becomes an obsession, he decides to get closer, with disastrous consequences; the story turns on the discovery that it was not Luca who was spying on Amanda, but the other way around.[2](https://www.minervapicturesinternational.com/catalogue/close-to-me/) • [1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/475223/)
Cineuropa's review describes the film as starting like a romantic comedy and becoming increasingly effervescent as the plot complicates, veering toward the thriller while keeping a dose of irony; it opens on the evening of 10 March 2020, when the Italian government's lockdown address reaches the characters at dinner, just as a stranger rings the doorbell needing to charge her phone.[3](https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/475226) Viewer reviews on [Letterboxd](https://www.edgepedia.org/letterboxd) similarly describe a first half played as an erotic drama that shifts into thriller territory in its final 20 to 25 minutes.[6](https://letterboxd.com/film/close-to-me-2025/reviews/)
## Production
The film was produced by Nightswim, the company founded in 2015 by Stefano Sardo and producer Ines Vasiljević, in association with Medusa Film, with Jelena Mitrović co-producing for the Serbian company Baš Čelik; foreign sales were handled by Minerva Pictures Group and TVCO.[3](https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/475226) • [5](https://www.marchedufilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/mdf26_cannes_remakes_catalog.pdf) The Marché du Film catalog lists a budget of €4,398,527, festival screenings at i-Fest IFF and Ischia Global Film & Music, and 71,723 admissions.[5](https://www.marchedufilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/mdf26_cannes_remakes_catalog.pdf)
The crew included cinematographer Francesco Di Giacomo, editor Sarah McTeigue, composer Francesco Cerasi, and production designer Mauro Vanzati.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32478708/fullcredits/) Sardo also served as a producer alongside Vasiljević.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32478708/fullcredits/)
## Reception and box office
[Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo) records a worldwide gross of $490,149, all from international markets, with the earliest release date of 20 March 2025 in Italy and a running time of 1 hour 43 minutes.[7](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt32478708/credits/) On FilmAffinity the film holds a user rating of 5.1 from 287 votes.[8](https://www.filmaffinity.com/uk/film704260.html) External reviews were published in several languages, including German (film-rezensionen.de), Italian (Sentieri Selvaggi, Movieplayer.it, Lost in Cinema.it), Greek (MyFilm), and Russian (ivi.ru).[9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32478708/externalreviews/) A Greek review described it as an erotic psychological thriller set in Rome during the grim early pandemic period that aspires to be neo-noir.[10](https://flix.gr/cinema/close-to-me-review.html)
## Other films of the same name
The title Close to Me has also been used for a 2009 Taiwanese boxing drama (近在咫尺) directed by Hsiao-Zer Cheng, and for a 2021 British television miniseries starring [Connie Nielsen](https://www.edgepedia.org/connie-nielsen) as a woman who loses a year of her memory after a fall; the 2022 Belgian drama *Close* by Lukas Dhont is a separate film.[11](https://file.moc.gov.tw/001/Upload/OldFiles/AdminUploads/contenthistory/2010TaiwanCinemaPDFII.pdf) • [12](https://www.tvinsider.com/show/close-to-me/)
## References
1. [Close to Me (Muori di lei), Cineuropa film page](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/475223/)
2. [Close To Me, Minerva Pictures International catalogue](https://www.minervapicturesinternational.com/catalogue/close-to-me/)
3. [Review: Close to Me, Cineuropa (Vittoria Scarpa, 19 March 2025)](https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/475226)
4. [Close to Me (2025) full cast and crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32478708/fullcredits/)
5. [Close to Me, Marché du Film Cannes catalog (Nightswim)](https://www.marchedufilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/mdf26_cannes_remakes_catalog.pdf)
6. [Reviews of Close to Me (2025), Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/film/close-to-me-2025/reviews/)
7. [Close to Me (2025), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt32478708/credits/)
8. [Close to Me (2024), FilmAffinity](https://www.filmaffinity.com/uk/film704260.html)
9. [Close to Me (2025) external reviews, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32478708/externalreviews/)
10. [Επικίνδυνα… Κοντά σου, FLIX (Lida Galanou, 30 July 2025)](https://flix.gr/cinema/close-to-me-review.html)
11. [Close to Me (2009), Taiwan Cinema](https://file.moc.gov.tw/001/Upload/OldFiles/AdminUploads/contenthistory/2010TaiwanCinemaPDFII.pdf)
12. [Close to Me, TV Insider (Sundance Now miniseries)](https://www.tvinsider.com/show/close-to-me/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2025–2026 films › Psychological and erotic thrillers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license