# They Call Me Jeeg
**They Call Me Jeeg** (Italian: *Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot*) is a 2015 Italian superhero film directed, produced, and co-scored by Gabriele Mainetti, in which a small-time Roman crook gains superhuman strength from radioactive waste and is drawn from crime toward heroism by a young woman who believes he is the robot hero of the 1970s Japanese anime *Steel Jeeg*.[1](https://cineuropa.org/f.aspx?did=300449%2F1000&t=film) • [2](https://www.laemmle.com/film/they-call-me-jeeg) It was Mainetti's debut feature, written by Nicola Guaglianone and Menotti, and it became a major domestic success, winning seven David di Donatello Awards from sixteen nominations.[3](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/46/21006-they-call-me-jeeg) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/they-call-me-jeeg/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title / year | *Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot*, Italy, 2015; international title *They Call Me Jeeg*[1](https://cineuropa.org/f.aspx?did=300449%2F1000&t=film) |
| Director and writers | Gabriele Mainetti (also producer and co-composer); screenplay by Nicola Guaglianone and Menotti[1](https://cineuropa.org/f.aspx?did=300449%2F1000&t=film) |
| Running time | 112 minutes[1](https://cineuropa.org/f.aspx?did=300449%2F1000&t=film) |
| Italian release | 25 February 2016; French release 3 May 2017[1](https://cineuropa.org/f.aspx?did=300449%2F1000&t=film) |
| Lead cast | Claudio Santamaria (Enzo Ceccotti), Luca Marinelli (Zingaro), Ilenia Pastorelli (Alessia)[1](https://cineuropa.org/f.aspx?did=300449%2F1000&t=film) |
| Awards | 7 wins and 16 nominations at the David di Donatello Awards[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/they-call-me-jeeg/) |
| Critical reception | 82% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 11 reviews[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/they_call_me_jeeg) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Enzo Ceccotti, a petty thief from the poor outskirts of Rome, jumps into the Tiber River to escape the police and falls into a barrel of radioactive waste, which gives him superhuman strength and healing abilities.[2](https://www.laemmle.com/film/they-call-me-jeeg) After being thrown from the ninth story of a building and walking away without a scratch, he realizes he is effectively invulnerable.[6](https://crypticrock.com/call-jeeg-movie-review/) A gloomy, introverted man, he treats the powers as a blessing for his criminal career.[7](https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/lochiamavanojeegrobot)
Everything changes when he meets Alessia, Sergio's daughter, an emotionally fragile young woman obsessed with the 1970s Japanese anime *Steel Jeeg*, who becomes convinced that Enzo is the show's robot hero, Hiroshi Shiba.[2](https://www.laemmle.com/film/they-call-me-jeeg) • [6](https://crypticrock.com/call-jeeg-movie-review/) After Enzo saves her from harassment by the gang of Zingaro (Fabio Cannizzaro), a former reality-TV personality turned crime boss, Alessia's belief in him pushes him from super-criminal toward protector, and he takes on the psychopathic gangster to save her.[6](https://crypticrock.com/call-jeeg-movie-review/) • [2](https://www.laemmle.com/film/they-call-me-jeeg)
## Production
Mainetti, born in 1976 in Rome, had directed the short films *Basette* (2008) and *Tiger Boy* (2012) before this feature debut; he also composed the film's music with Michele Braga.[3](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/46/21006-they-call-me-jeeg) In an interview he described a long and difficult financing process: the idea dated to September 2010, no producer could be found, and Rai Cinema's initial development funding was followed by a search for the rest of the money until Lucky Red came aboard.[8](https://www.infooggi.it/articolo/intervista-a-gabriele-mainetti-regista-di-lo-chiamavano-jeeg-robot/87211/pdf)
The film was produced by Goon Films and Rai Cinema, with support from MiBACT and Regione Lazio, and shot on a budget far below what the genre normally requires.[1](https://cineuropa.org/f.aspx?did=300449%2F1000&t=film) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/they-call-me-jeeg/) • [9](https://www.odgmagazine.com/montare-un-action-movie-in-italia/) According to an editor's account, some stunts had not gone well during shooting, and post-production visual effects were used to remove wires and patch up fight scenes; the rough aesthetic, however, matched what Mainetti had sought.[9](https://www.odgmagazine.com/montare-un-action-movie-in-italia/) The story moves between the Tor Bella Monaca district and the [Stadio Olimpico](https://www.edgepedia.org/stadio-olimpico).[10](https://www.mymovies.it/pdf/?recensione=723265)
## Reception and significance
Critics received the film as an offbeat, gritty entry in the superhero genre. Jay Weissberg of *Variety* wrote that "Italy finally gets its own superhero, and the results are surprisingly gritty and thoroughly enjoyable," and the [Karlovy Vary](https://www.edgepedia.org/karlovy-vary) festival program praised its modest but well-handled visual effects and its use of familiar genre ingredients to comment on Italian social and political ills.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/they_call_me_jeeg) • [3](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/46/21006-they-call-me-jeeg) Ard Vijn of ScreenAnarchy credited the film's distinctiveness to grounding the story in gritty reality and building its humor on deadpan absurdity rather than slapstick.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/they_call_me_jeeg) [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hollywood-reporter)'s John DeFore was more reserved, judging it not funny or daring enough to make much of an entry into the American market.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/they_call_me_jeeg)
The film was an enormous public success in Italy and the big winner at that year's David di Donatello Awards, the Italian equivalent of the [César Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/cesar-awards).[11](https://strasbourgfestival.com/en/they-call-me-jeeg-en/) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/they-call-me-jeeg/) It was picked up for United States distribution by Uncork'd Entertainment, released on digital/VOD on May 2, 2017, and later streamed widely on ad-supported and subscription platforms.[6](https://crypticrock.com/call-jeeg-movie-review/) • [12](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/they-call-me-jeeg) Mainetti said the film had been bought in the United States and that calls for a remake had already come.[8](https://www.infooggi.it/articolo/intervista-a-gabriele-mainetti-regista-di-lo-chiamavano-jeeg-robot/87211/pdf)
Commentators have placed the film in a distinctive European superhero tradition. The Karlovy Vary program described it as playing creatively with formulas that persist in American productions, and the Italian review site MyMovies read it as a classic origin story in the mold of 1960s American comics, translated into the Roman borgate and filtered through the poetic tradition of Pasolini alongside 1980s Japanese animation.[3](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/46/21006-they-call-me-jeeg) • [10](https://www.mymovies.it/pdf/?recensione=723265) An academic study has grouped it with *The Great Beauty* and *Suburra* as recent films that portray Rome as an inseparable element of their artistic vision.[13](https://e-lib.ugd.edu.mk/resursi/megunarodni-spisanija/pal/pal-2023_15.pdf)
## References
1. [Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot, Cineuropa film database](https://cineuropa.org/f.aspx?did=300449%2F1000&t=film)
2. [They Call Me Jeeg, Laemmle Theatres](https://www.laemmle.com/film/they-call-me-jeeg)
3. [They Call Me Jeeg, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival program](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/46/21006-they-call-me-jeeg)
4. [They Call Me Jeeg Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/they-call-me-jeeg/)
5. [They Call Me Jeeg, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/they_call_me_jeeg)
6. [They Call Me Jeeg (Movie Review), Cryptic Rock](https://crypticrock.com/call-jeeg-movie-review/)
7. [Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot, RaiPlay](https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/lochiamavanojeegrobot)
8. [Intervista a Gabriele Mainetti: "Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot, un supereroe tutto nostro", InfoOggi](https://www.infooggi.it/articolo/intervista-a-gabriele-mainetti-regista-di-lo-chiamavano-jeeg-robot/87211/pdf)
9. [Montare un action movie in Italia, ODG Magazine](https://www.odgmagazine.com/montare-un-action-movie-in-italia/)
10. [Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot (2015), MyMovies](https://www.mymovies.it/pdf/?recensione=723265)
11. [They Call Me Jeeg, Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival](https://strasbourgfestival.com/en/they-call-me-jeeg-en/)
12. [They Call Me Jeeg streaming: where to watch online?, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/they-call-me-jeeg)
13. [Dejan Malčić, Postmodern Visions of Rome in The Great Beauty, Suburra and They Call Me Jeeg](https://e-lib.ugd.edu.mk/resursi/megunarodni-spisanija/pal/pal-2023_15.pdf)
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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 › Science fiction and fantasy films (individual works) › Science fiction and fantasy films of the 2010s*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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