Angelina Jolie just sauntered into Italy, and as expected, she left with an award in hand and hearts in her wake! At the 2024 Torino Film Festival, the actress/director/humanitarian/queen of doing absolutely everything better than us mere mortals was honored with the Stella della Mole prize. That’s Italian for “You’re amazing, here’s a shiny thing!”
The glitzy event took place on Sunday (November 24) in Turin, where Angie didn’t just show up, look stunning, and go home—oh no, she made it a whole thing. She also premiered her film Without Blood, a project she wrote, directed, co-produced, and probably built the set for with her bare hands while solving world peace during coffee breaks.
Now, let’s talk about Without Blood. It’s got a star-studded lineup featuring Salma Hayek (aka your ultimate girl crush), Demián Bichir, Juan Minujín, Jorge Antonio Guerrero, and Patricio José. Basically, the cast list is so good that you’ll wish you could play “Random Villager #5” just to be part of it.
The film, based on Alessandro Baricco’s novel, takes us on a ride through revenge, redemption, and… trap doors? According to Deadline (and yes, this sounds as juicy as it does confusing), the story follows Nina, a girl whose dad was brutally murdered by a gang. Not great! But plot twist: one of the bad guys, Tito, finds little Nina hiding under a trap door and decides, “Eh, I’ll let her live.” Years later, Nina—now played by the always-fabulous Salma Hayek—tracks Tito (Demián Bichir) down at a newsstand of all places. Because nothing says “let’s talk about childhood trauma” like newspapers and gum. They sit down for a meal, air out their grievances, and—who knows?—maybe discuss how trap doors have really fallen out of fashion.
Angelina Jolie showed up, dazzled, collected an award, and served us a film that’s giving Shakespeare meets Oprah’s Book Club with a sprinkle of Home Depot. Bravo, Angie. Italy may never recover.
