IDDA (TIFF 2026) – Review by Valerie Kalfrin
There’s nothing like traveling together to highlight the fractures in a relationship. The Italian drama Idda, set against the backdrop of a hike to the summit of Sicily’s Mount Etna, brings together two young women whose friendship of years past doesn’t quite translate to where they are now in life.
Adele (Tecla Insolia, Amata) and Sofia (Romana Maggiora Vergano, Portobello) might have been childhood friends, but tensions between them are brewing as soon as Adele greets Sofia at the airport. Sofia is late as usual—and typically blaming someone else, Adele says. Sofia shrugs this off but often jabs at Adele, a photographer, for being so responsible. Why can’t she be more spontaneous, dancing in the aisle on the train or wandering off the safe paths on their climb?
The two had planned to climb the active volcano, locally called Idda, after Adele’s mother died two years prior, but Sofia didn’t follow through at the time. That resentment sits between them, along with a secret that Sofia’s not ready to share, ignoring phone calls and messages.
Director Irene Dionisio (Le ultime cose), who co-wrote the script with Marco Borromei (Chlorophyll), captures the ambivalence between these two, whether they’re on the beach at sunrise, sipping beers after dark, or whispering outside a tent, tracking fireflies. Their interactions are at times so prickly that they seem to barely tolerate each other, which makes Idda a discomforting watch, especially when Adele is embarrassed over Sofia’s rudeness, especially to Sebastian (Giuseppe De Domenico, The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox), a mountain guide who is Adele’s former flame.
In Italian with English subtitles, Idda fleshes out Adele’s character more than Sofia’s, spending more time in Adele’s perspective and daydreams. For a while, Idda is reminiscent of 2001’s Y tu mamá también, another road trip with a secret and erotic undertones. The mountain is serious business, Sebastian warns, noting how the volcano has a way of putting people in their place. The girls hope to see Idda’s soul, but bare some of their own. Actions and intimacy intercut with lava and smoke from the mouth of the volcano, which sometimes complements the emotions but overall feels too on the nose.
Idda becomes confusing in the latter third, blurring Adele’s imaginings with memories and tragedy. Idda presents a fateful trip that impacts these friends’ lives, but its enigmatic finale might leave viewers wanting.
