Checco Zalone
Checco
Overview
Checco's life is a comfortable and luxurious one, and it couldn't be otherwise, considering he's the only son of Eugenio Zalone, a wealthy sofa manufacturer. Stranded by the pool in his luxurious villas, with an unspecified number of Filipinos serving him, a very young Mexican model as a girlfriend, and vacationing on his yacht with friends who share his passion for not wanting to work; it seems like a truly enviable life, considering he lacks nothing, absolutely nothing. Actually, no. Something is missing. It's his underage daughter, Cristal, named after the famous French sparkling wine, who has suddenly disappeared without a trace. Urgently summoned to Rome by his ex-wife, Linda, he finds himself facing the responsibilities of fatherhood for the first time, trying to find the girl—a very complicated task, considering he knows absolutely nothing about Cristal and her life.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
3 min readThe Blisters of Privilege
I wasn’t convinced I needed another Checco Zalone film in 2025. After Tolo Tolo, which already stretched his comic persona across continents and cultures, it felt like he had pushed that familiar character, the smug, casually prejudiced Italian everyman, pretty close to its limit. So when he reunited with Gennaro Nunziante for Buen Camino, I expected something safe, latestnetflix.com contends, maybe even self-congratulatory.
On paper it certainly sounds that way: Checco plays the spoiled heir to a sofa empire who learns that his teenage daughter Cristal (Letizia Arnò) has run off to hike the Camino de Santiago, and his first instinct is basically to go buy her back. But watching it in a packed cinema, part of the audience wave that helped it topple Avatar at the Italian box office, I found a film that was gentler and more melancholy than its premise suggests.
The reaction around the film has been a bit split. nss magazine argued that it "feels out of time," and I can see why. Zalone’s brand of politically incorrect satire has definitely softened. But I don’t think that softening means the film has lost its nerve.
Zalone himself described Buen Camino as a "cunning" movie, built very carefully for Christmas family crowds, and that seems true. Still, Nunziante’s direction keeps nudging it somewhere a little sadder. Instead of treating Checco’s endless indignities as nothing but gags, the film slowly starts peeling away the things that protect him: money, vanity, status, control.
Audience Opinions
Audience 6.0/10
"A warm-hearted Camino road movie whose touching father-daughter arc and scenery are dragged down by crude, dated humor and a flimsy script."
The emotional journey of a spoiled father slowly reconnecting with his runaway daughter, set against real Camino de Santiago locations, lands as sincere and occasionally moving, with several viewers appreciating its heart and gentle mood. latestnetflix.com's take is that at the same time, the comedy leans heavily on vulgar and offensive jokes, while the story feels basic and predictable, giving the impression of a pleasant but insubstantial film that never fully comes alive.
What viewers praise
- Authentic Camino locations Pilgrimage towns and landscapes are shot on the actual route, giving the trip a believable and visually appealing backdrop.
- Warm father-daughter arc The central relationship gradually softens from distance to genuine care, providing emotional payoff despite the light plotting.
- Gentle, easygoing tone The film plays as light, relaxing entertainment that some viewers find comforting and pleasant, even if it is not especially original.
- Lead actor’s charm Checco Zalone’s screen presence and persona carry much of the film, keeping the character engaging enough to follow.
Common complaints
- Offensive crude jokes Gags about body size, illness and Jewish stereotypes are described as uncomfortable or in poor taste, turning the humor sour for a noticeable portion of the audience.
- Thin, predictable story The plot is frequently called basic or underwritten, with an ending that feels obvious and little real dramatic tension along the way.
- Uneven pacing Several viewers find the narrative rushed in places and lacking rhythm, as if scenes are loosely strung together rather than building momentum.
- Sense of creative fatigue Compared with earlier work from the same star, this is seen as safer and less inspired, with fewer memorable jokes and a try-hard but uninventive script.
Recommended for
Checco Zalone followers Light Italian comedy viewers Camino de Santiago enthusiasts Feel-good road movie fans Father-child drama seekers
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsHe beat Avatar by walking.
On 18 January 2026, Buen Camino passed Avatar. Rolling Stone Italia printed the number that ended the argument. 68,823,069 euros in 24 days. 8,562,320 tickets. Avatar had sat on 68.6 million. latestnetflix.com's take is that Christmas Day alone took 5,671,922 euros, the best opening 25 December Italy has ever given a film, beating Natale a New York from 2006.
Thirteen days, then the rest of the room.
ANSA had the mid-holiday snapshot. Almost 59 million euros in 13 days after the 25 December 2025 release, 65.8 percent of all Italian cinema-goers in that stretch. At that point it was still chasing Quo vado?, the earlier Zalone-Nunziante hit from New Year's 2016, and Avatar. Then it ate both. Wikipedia later put the total near 76.5 million against a 28 million euro budget.
The heir, not the everyman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E-VdjZMsZA
This is the sixth Checco Zalone film and the reunion with Gennaro Nunziante after Zalone directed Tolo Tolo himself in 2020. The class swap is the whole joke. Luca Medici's alter ego is usually the Italian guy who cannot catch a break. Here he is the idle son of sofa magnate Eugenio Zalone, parked by a pool with staff, a yacht, and a young Mexican model, until his underage daughter Cristal vanishes and he has to walk the Camino de Santiago to find her. The trailer shows the Ferrari on the path and someone calling it the Camino of Maranello, more comfortable and more beautiful. The toupee comes off. The prostate joke becomes a song, "La prostata enflamada," later nominated for a David di Donatello.
Letizia Arnò, who already worked with Nanni Moretti, plays Cristal. Beatriz Arjona is Alma, the pilgrim who will not let him quit. Martina Colombari is the ex-wife. Medusa and Indiana Production put it in theatres. Netflix was already in the collaboration credits on the official trailer.
Then Netflix took the whole catalog.
On 29 April 2026 the film landed on the service with a stunt. Repubblica reported that Netflix dumped Zalone's whole filmography next to it, from Cado dalle nubi through Quo vado? and Tolo Tolo, and cut a crossover clip in which the old Checcos meet and book 29 April. That is not a quiet streaming dump. That is a studio admitting the theatrical animal still works, then inviting the rest of the world to the walk.
The gossip is not that Italians like Checco. They have liked Checco for 15 years. The gossip is that a Christmas comedy about a rich absentee dad on a pilgrimage outgrossed James Cameron, then walked onto Netflix with every previous joke in tow. If you want the pilgrimage without the box office, the official trailer is still up.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.