7 women and a murder (of the man)

7 Donne e un mistero or 7 women and a murder is a 2022 movie with Margherita Buy, Ornella Vanoni, Micaela Ramazzotti, Diana Del Bufalo, Luisa Ranieri, Sabrina Impacciatore, and Benedetta Porcaroli as the main cast.

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Summary

The patriarch, Marcello(Luca Pastorelli) of the family crafts a plan to test the love of the ladies. There are 6 women of different generations present to find out the killer before the eventually 7th joins to uncover the killer and their intentions. You have the two sisters and daughters of Margherita (Susanna and Caterina), the two sisters and daughters of Rachele (Agostina and Margherita), Rachele, Veronica(Micaela Ramazzotti) and Maria(the housekeeper) as the 7 women. Margherita is the wife of Marcello and Veronica is his mistress. They learn a lesson to appreciate his presence and effort before his death.

Takeaway

Susanna (Diana Del Bufalo)says, "Please try to focus. Every detail is important." as they try to figure out what could have happened. They consider any irregularities in his usual day. Maria (Luisa Ranieri)already deduced that the dogs that always bark at everything did not bark last night therefore the killer may have not been outside or could be someone that knows the house well. In a mystery every little thing is vital and can make or break the discovery, no matter how flimsy it may be, everything aids in uncovering the mystery. They ask questions pertaining to what has happened so far and who would benefit the most.

Side-note

Maria said, "The difficult thing isn't conquering a man. It's avoiding having your whole life revolve around him." as she tries to enlighten Agostina(Sabrina Impacciatore). She also tells her, "You must feel beautiful, you must.". After Agostina's transformation to Tina with the help of Maria, she said, "Women work miracles.". Margherita (Margherita Buy)said, "So women should help one another, they should not wage war." and Rachele (Ornella Vanoni)says, "Especially if a man asks you to.".

Rachele said, "No, it's not my legs, I'm a burden to everyone, you know.". She is bothered about her dependence on others for every little thing as she can't do anything. She is pushed in her wheelchair as Susanna jokes about her wait for death but Rachele says, "I want to see you at my age.".

Faves

Maria (Luisa Ranieri) and Caterina(Benedetta Porcaroli)

Usual suspects

Susanna says, "Dissatisfied servants are always the prime suspects.". This is another way of saying "the butler did it" which is also the most dispensable person they deem among others. With this perspective, they speculate on Maria is the killer. However, she says, "What makes you believe I was dissatisfied?" which they don't answer as they reach again for another reason to conclude her to be the killer. However, she is unaffected by their attempts and states she has no motive to kill him. She also makes it clear that she is possibly the only one who doesn't, implying the ulterior motives of everyone else.

Veronica categorizes all the ladies when wondering if the killer could be, "The not-at-all heartbroken wife? The baby rebel? The devoted firstborn? Or the mother-in-law, drunk and miserly. Or the sister-in-law. Spinster? [Agostina says," Or the old flame? which Veronica does not repeat] [Or the newly-hired maid? (as Margherita says) which Veronica does repeat.]". Despite speaking to them about having no motive they still went back to the maid as a suspect.

…

They were trapped physically (locked door to his room, locked gates, cut cord of the car, cut phone cords, blizzard) and emotionally(secrets). Susanna asks if Marcello's sick but Margherita says, "No, no, not really. No. He got lazy." and she says, "He's hard of hearing.". He has not been happy with his current state of life. Caterina said, "You all are witches. Papa was exhausted. He couldn't take it anymore." to inform them he felt it would be so peaceful to have died. However, they faked his death before he actually died. He was behind the door eavesdropping to hear what they really think of him. He wanted to change his will and needed to know for sure who would cry the most for money or for love.

Veronica is brought up as the love of Marcello's life and Margherita is complicit in their affair, saying she's not jealous regardless of Veronica buying a house in town. They go on walks and horseback rides. Margherita appears indifferent saying "she's entirely common. So, it's insignificant." which irritates Caterina as she repeats insignificant. Susanna says it's weird her father liked him but Margherita says, "Yes, it's just the mistakes of her youth, of course. I'm simply not sure what he saw in Veronica. To each his own" to console herself and silence this discussion. Her sister Agostina accosts Margherita for not being there for him as she in fact loves him but has to repress everything despite living in the same house as him, he's married to her sister and can't be there for him when she wants to.

Margherita is upset that people believe she's been all about Marcello's money. She talks about giving him kids, his annoying snoring, and wanting change in the house. She says "I give him two daughters and what do I ask? To grow old, to live together. But for nothing. It's the same, all the same. Just barren. Immobile. One day after another.". She's also unhappy about her state in life. Margherita was visibly affected by the news that her father was Veronica's old riding instructor and that she spent a lot of time with Marcello in the guest room which is why she knew where to go. It is also revealed that they have a more profoud history, including the fact that she actually owned the house Marcello and Margherita bought for themselves when engaged. Margherita reveals she had her bags already packed to leave after New Year's. She claimed to be in love with someone and wants to live in a silent home. Unfortunately, so did Veronica and they both revealed it was the same man. They fight and Margherita says "Do you always have to take my men?" but Veronica said she was there first for Marcello.

The dinner scene felt like they were eating their last supper. It was a grand feast and Maria's expression was suspicious especially with the way they were scarfing the food down.

Parts of this article were originally written in the "Mysteries and some movies" article.

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