Porn Star Rocco Siffredi’s Netflix Bio-Series ‘Supersex’ Is More Tedious Than Sexy: TV Review
05.03.2024 - 12:17
/ variety.com
Aramide Tinubu Loosely based on the experiences of real-life porn sensation Rocco Siffredi, known as the “Italian Stallion,” Netflix’s “Supersex” isn’t actually very sexy at all. Instead, the seven-part series, created by Francesca Manieri, is a tale about family, masculinity and toxic bonds. While the show, which stars Alessandro Borghi in the lead role, has some interesting chapters, the surrealist elements — including some hallucinatory moments and the bizarre way some of the sex scenes are filmed — make it more than a biographical account.
Instead, it’s an overly complex examination of relationships and the vices people indulge in to escape their emotional turmoil. “Supersex” opens in Parigi in 2004 with the world-renowned Rocco speaking at a sex convention. Still youthful and energetic, he shocks the porn world by announcing his retirement.
For Rocco, porn acting has always been more than just a job, and to understand why, Manieri and the series’ directors turn their lens to the Italian Stallion’s past. Series opener “Superpower” acts mainly as a coming-of-age story. Following Rocco’s retirement news, the show zips back to 1974.
Ten-year-old Rocco Tano feels trapped in the impoverished rural town of Ortona and lost in the chaos of his family life. His mother is devoted to his mentally disabled brother Claudio, and Rocco lives in the shadow of his charismatic older half-brother, Tommaso (Adriano Giannini). Tommaso is Rocco’s North Star.
He represents a type of freedom and hypermasculinity that appears out of reach for the men of Ortona. Tommaso also has the love of the town’s most stunning woman, Lucia (Jasmine Trinca), which only endears Rocco to him further. In addition to examining Rocco’s family dynamic,
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