Two girls, one life-changing friendship Monza, 1936. On the pebbled bank of the Lambro, two girls frantically scramble to bury a body—the dead son of the city’s most prominent fascist. Soon, their fierce friendship will be put to the ultimate test. A year earlier, Francesca Strada, the well-mannered daughter of a bourgeois family, dreams of a life beyond provincial conformity. From afar she spies on Maddalena, the town’s rebellious outcast—called “the Cursed One” by neighbors—whose indomitable spirit fascinates her. A lie brings the two together, and soon, they are inseparable. Maddalena teaches Francesca lessons she could never learn at school. But as tensions escalate and an atmosphere of suspicion, corruption, and discontent settles over the town, the friends become increasingly aware that as girls, they’re not as free as they wish to be. Confronted by a vicious act of violence, Maddalena and Francesca must rely on each other to defend themselves and their fierce bond. Set against t