Overview
- The film follows President Mariano De Santis as he weighs two pardon requests and whether to approve an end‑of‑life law.
- The narrative is set during the final six months of a presidential term, known as the "semestre bianco," and the character is not re‑elected.
- Sorrentino stresses the president is fictional, though he draws on traits associated with Sergio Mattarella, Giorgio Napolitano and Oscar Luigi Scalfaro.
- The director publicly affirms his pro‑euthanasia stance and references Martina Oppelli’s journey to Switzerland for assisted dying.
- Filming could not occur at the Quirinale, so key locations in Turin and Rome’s Villa Medici were used to recreate the seat of the presidency.