‘Fantasy Football Ruined Our Lives’ (2025) Netflix Movie Review - A Self-Congratulatory Piece For Anoraks

Alessio Maria Federici's Fantasy Football Ruined Our Lives/Ogni Maledetto Fantacalcio is about a diverse group of friends who try to recollect what occurred during a bachelor party that led to the disappearance (or possibly murder) of one of their friends, Gianni (Enrico Borello). Gianni is about to get married to Bianca (Francesca Agostini), and his best friend, Simone (Giacomo Ferrara), is also his best man at the wedding. Here's what you need to know about other friends: Nicola, played by Francesco Russo, is the only married guy in the group; Federico (Antonio Bannò) is a lawyer; Francesco (Giacomo Bottoni) is described as a bald hikikomori, and Jacopo (Francesco Giordano) is a freelancer who doesn't pay taxes. These characters are united by their passion for fantasy football. What is that, you ask? Well, I am afraid I can't tell you much. I am not trying to avoid spoilers; it's just that I didn't understand this concept very well. All I grasped was that if you score 66 points, you score one goal. And if you reach 72 points, you score the second goal. Does this make any sense? Is it meant to make any sense? Simone and his pals are intended to be seen as the equivalent of comic book nerds. They have their own jargon, which anyone who's not an expert would struggle to wrap their head around.
 

But hold on a second: who killed Gianni? Is he actually dead? Oh, did I mention that Simone is the main suspect? Don't worry, Fantasy Football Ruined Our Lives is not exactly a crime thriller. It's a comedy film, though Netflix has also described it as raunchy. The bad news is that the movie is not very funny or raunchy either. Most of the scenes merely show the friends fervently discussing fantasy football, and the joke is supposed to be these discussions, most of which, anyway, go over your head (pardon me, I am not a football fan). Fantasy Football Ruined Our Lives is about a romance and its betrayal, but Federici films the drama impersonally, leaving no trace of sensuality or humor. A major sexual encounter feels utterly basic and bland. We don't feel the rush of witnessing disloyalty or the thrill of something that shouldn't have happened. The moment lacks any real erotic charge. In the hands of Federici, it's just a flat scene that tells us something happened—nothing more, nothing less. 

The story briefly develops a prickly tone when it calls out the friends for acting like overgrown teenagers. They, after all, don't have a real job and spend their time playing a fantasy game (the lawyer is a lawyer purely for narrative purposes). One character grows distant from his wife and kid, while another ends up sleeping on the couch at his grandmother's place. Writers Giulio Carrieri and Michele Bertini Malgarini, however, don't fully enter this dark space. They also cook up a happy ending that feels like a giant fuck you to whatever criticism they threw towards their characters. The filmmakers might as well be congratulating people like Simone and his friends for being absorbed in their fantasy land. Jobs, kids, and wives can wait (hell, they could be disposable). What matters most in life is satisfying your nerdy desires. This is why the English title doesn't make sense. Fantasy football doesn't exactly ruin anybody's life. It provides its characters with joy and happiness. The movie is an absurd celebration of childish fantasies and inclinations. It's a self-congratulatory piece for anoraks.

Final Score- [2/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times