Production
Jennifer Esposito told Variety that the idea for the script had been “percolating” in her mind since she was 16 years-old and growing up on Staten Island. [4]
Esposito told Deadline Hollywood in October 2021, she had struggled to get financing for the project from financiers and distributors due to the lack of male lead actors in the film. Funding instead arrived from a unique source, with Deadline Hollywood calling it “the first feature film financed and traded by a global group of fan investors via this first-of-its-kind IPO on Upstream Exchange, the Ethereum-powered digital stock exchange”. [5]
In November 2021, Annabella Sciorra joined Esposito in the cast playing Christine, the sister of Esposito’s character Francine. [6] Odessa A'zion and Emily Bader joined the cast in December 2021 as Francine’s daughters. [7]
Principal photography took place on Staten Island in February 2022. [8]
Plot
Act I: A New Home, An Old World The Larusso family—father Joe, mother Fran, and sisters Connie and Rose—move from Brooklyn to a new house in Staten Island. The adjustment is difficult: the neighborhood is bleak, Fran is unhappy, and the sisters miss their old life. Tensions simmer immediately when the fiery, protective Connie nearly gets into a fight with movers after they hit young Rose. Behind the facade of a fresh start, Joe is involved in organized crime. Rose and Connie secretly overhear Joe arguing with his associate, Nello, about illegal goods stored in their garage by their incompetent uncle, Nick. Soon after, Nick disappears, sending the first ripple of dread through the family.
Act II: Loyalty, Violence, and Silent Questions The family tries to settle into their new community, attending Catholic school and church, where Connie’s aggressive loyalty repeatedly leads to physical confrontations. Rose, more observant and introspective, begins to question their world, especially after being teased at school about her father’s dishonesty. A brutal fight between Connie and a rival, Danielle, at a Christmas party underscores the violent code they live by. Rose’s doubts create a rift with Connie, who violently insists she must always defend the family. The pressure escalates when Rose witnesses Connie’s boyfriend, Bobby, commit a savage act of retaliation. After the sisters are ambushed and beaten, a weary Fran tends to them and reveals painful family history, including her own miscarriage and the truth about Uncle Nick’s fate, implying some questions are too dangerous to ask.
Act III: Illusions and Fronts In an attempt to provide legitimacy, Joe buys a bakery for Connie and Rose to run. Rose, however, feels increasingly trapped, uncertain about her engagement to Bobby and harboring secret dreams of a career beyond Staten Island. The fragile illusion shatters when Rose’s young niece discovers a hidden stash of guns and drugs in the bakery’s office, revealing the business is a front and their cousin, Allie, is involved. Connie, furious, orders Rose to stay silent. Seeking an escape, Connie drives Rose to Manhattan for an open audition to be a TV guest host. While waiting, Rose sees a live news report: her father and his associates have been arrested by the FBI for murder and racketeering, with an informant—revealed to be Allie—naming Joe Joe as responsible for Uncle Nick’s death.
Act IV: Betrayal and Tragedy The family is thrown into crisis. Paranoid and armed, Allie confesses to being the informant at the bakery, fearing for his life. In a tragic confrontation shrouded in panic and mistaken intentions, a struggle ensues. Allie is killed, and Connie is fatally wounded, leaving Rose utterly traumatized as she cradles her dying sister.
Act V: The Reckoning Two years later, Joe is released from prison after serving a short sentence. Rose has become the primary caretaker for Connie’s daughter, Lily. The family prepares for a strained homecoming. When Joe returns, attempting to resume his role with familiar gestures, Rose finally confronts him. She unleashes years of suppressed fear and anger, blaming him for Connie’s death and the destruction of their family’s chance at a normal life. She reveals she was the child in the garage who overheard his criminal dealings, and that he knew she was there. Her pivotal question, “Who protects us from you?” hangs in the air. The film ends with Rose driving away from the house with Lily, symbolizing her definitive break from the cycle of violence and silence, as she chooses to find her own voice and path forward.
