Netflix is putting toxic masculinity under the comedy microscope.
The streamer has ordered Maschi Veri, an eight-part comedy series from Italy in which four alpha male friends in their forties find themselves facing their own prejudices and the paradigms of toxic masculinity in a world that is moving towards social and gender equality. Without losing themselves, they are forced to rediscover their place in society and their relationships.
Maurizio Lastrico, Matteo Martari, Francesco Montanari and Pietro Sermonti star as the friends in the show, which is from Banijay’s Italian drama house Groenlandia. Furio Andreotti, Giulia Calenda and Ugo Ripamonti are the writers, with Groenlandia’s Matteo Rovere producing. Matteo Oleotto and Letizia Lamartire are directing.
Thony, Sarah Felberbaum, Laura Adriani, Alice Lupparelli, Corrado Fortuna and Nicole Grimaudo complete the cast. Show is slated for a 2025 launch.
For Netflix, the series is its latest out of Italy that explores contemporary masculinity. It comes after Rocco Siffredi drama Supersex, which told the origin story of Italy’s most infamous hardcore porn star. Netflix has had an office in Rome since 2022.
Groenlandia is behind the likes of feature film director Sydney Sibilia’s first TV drama series, Someone Killed Spiderman – Accidentally Famous, which is about the Italian musical duo 883 and for Sky Italia, and Antonia, the Fleabag-style Prime Video comedy-drama starring Chiara Martegiani and Valerio Mastandrea.