The Monster of Florence (2025) Parents Guide

The Monster of Florence is rated TV-MA rating due to its mature relationship themes and adult language.

I would recommend teens age 16+ for casual viewing, and 18+ for more comfort and maturity.

The Monster of Florence – Movie Review

Teenagers Pasquale Gentilcore and Stefania Pettini thought they had found a quiet place in the hills outside Florence. What awaited them instead was the work of a phantom who would terrorize Italy for decades: the Monster of Florence. They were shot, stabbed, and, after death, Stefania was mutilated. It was 1974. Seven years later, investigators realized that the bullets in their bodies matched a gun used in a 1968 double murder the killing of Antonio Lo Bianco and Barbara Locci. Locci’s husband, Stefano Mele, had already confessed and gone to prison for that earlier crime. But when the killings resumed while Mele sat behind bars, the ground beneath Italian law enforcement cracked open.

That eerie chain of murders forms the backbone of Stefano Sollima’s The Monster of Florence, a four-part Netflix miniseries that tries to untangle one of Europe’s most confounding true-crime stories. From the late 1960s to the mid-1980s, someone or perhaps several someones hunted lovers who parked their cars along the Tuscan countryside. Sixteen people died. Women were mutilated in ways too grotesque to describe. The killer was never found. And so, over time, the Monster became less a man than a myth part of the cultural imagination, like the Zodiac Killer or Jack the Ripper.

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Sollima anchors his retelling in what became known as the Sardinian Trail, an investigation built around the idea that solving the earliest murders would unravel them all. It was a seductive theory one that consumed years of police work and ruined countless lives without ever revealing the truth. Every time authorities thought they had their man, another couple turned up dead. Imagine the despair of those officers, the sheer futility of trying to trap a killer who seemed to be watching from just beyond the reach of logic.

Locci’s story reads like a gothic tragedy: a woman passed between cruel men, punished for her sexuality, and ultimately annihilated by it. The series begins with her husband, Stefano Mele, the convicted murderer who might be innocent. Then it turns to her lover Francesco Vinci, another volatile figure whose temper and jealousy made him a suspect. Then Mele’s brother Giovanni, a brute who radiates menace. Finally, Salvatore Vinci, a man so cold and self-assured that the camera itself seems to recoil from him.

All four men are rendered as predators each capable of violence, each steeped in misogyny. Sollima shoots them in dim interiors, their faces half in shadow, as though the Monster could be any of them or all of them at once. The suggestion is chilling: perhaps the identity of the killer doesn’t matter. Perhaps the true Monster is the culture that produced them the normalization of domination, the quiet, accepted brutality of men toward women.

It’s a potent reading of an old story, but Sollima never fully commits. For all its technical polish and grim atmosphere, the series lacks an emotional core. Barbara Locci, the woman at its heart, remains a cipher. We never hear her voice beyond whispers of gossip or see her life beyond the violence men inflicted on it. A more daring version of The Monster of Florence might have told the story through her eyes, or through those of her son Natalino, the lone witness who may or may not remember what he saw. Even the detectives, who could have provided structure and moral tension, are treated as afterthoughts.

Detailed Content Breakdown for Parents

Violence & Intensity: This is a very intense show. The series is based on real murders and depicts multiple double homicides, shootings, stabbings and mutilation. For example: in the real-life murders and the series you see young couples attacked in their cars, sometimes with sexual violence and bodily mutilation. The tone is dark, unsettling and persistent the “thriller” label feels mild compared to the material. Parents should expect graphic imagery, tension, fear, scenes that may cause distress not suitable for younger children.

Language: : Although I did not find a full scene-by-scene transcript, given the subject matter (adult crime drama, unsolved serial murders, Italian dialogue) one should assume the language is strong and unfiltered. There are likely profanity, possibly slurs or harsh insults, and a tone that is gritty and adult. The combination of violence and realism means the dialogue won’t be “clean”.

Sexual Content / Nudity: the subject involves young couples in intimate situations (parked, making out) and then attacked. The real-case detail: victims were targeted during moments of intimacy. The series depicts sexuality in the context of vulnerability (the “lovers’ lane” scenario). There may be nudity or partial nudity, sexual behaviour, and sexual violence/mutilation implications. This is not a romance but a thriller built on the violation of intimacy. Parents should be forewarned.

Drugs, Alcohol & Smoking: There is less specific mention of drug-use or alcohol in the summaries I found. The main content is crime, violence and sexual violence rather than recreational drug or alcohol use. However, given the adult context, there may be some smoking/alcohol referenced in the background, but it’s not the central issue.

Scary or Disturbing Scenes: The series repeatedly draws on terror, suspense, mystery, graphic violence and the emotional fallout of murder. One article calls it “chilling”, “haunting”, with surgical mutilations and ritualistic overtones. The series is likely to cause anxiety, nightmares or discomfort for more sensitive viewers even teenagers might find it overwhelming.

Positive Messages / Role Models
Because the focus is on a long unsolved crime and the frustration of investigation, the show’s “positive messages” are somewhat limited. However, one can draw lessons: the importance of persistence in seeking truth, the toll of trauma, the human cost of crime, and the value of remembering victims rather than glamorizing the killer. The investigators and victims’ loved-ones are portrayed with humanity. That said, the series doesn’t come across as a “feel-good” family drama but a sobering “true-crime” reflection.

Parental Concerns

• Graphic violence: Scenes of murder, mutilation, sexual assault are central. This is likely very disturbing and potentially triggering.
• Sexual violence / nudity: The combination of intimacy and then violent attack means the younger viewer may be shocked.
• Mature themes: the story involves unsolved crimes, institutional failure, victim blaming, misogyny, conspiracy theories.
• Not uplifting: Unlike lighter fare, this series may leave viewers unsettled rather than comfortable.
• Emotional heaviness: It may evoke anxiety, sadness, fear even for adults.
• Visual realism: Because it’s based on real events and uses dramatic re-creation, the setting, tone and imagery are unflinching.