Murder mysteries are always a good idea. An Italian murder mystery is, somehow, an even better idea. Like me here, Salvo (Salvatore Ficarra) tries his best to convince his brother-in-law and technician colleague Valentino (Valentino Picone) to buy this theory and, in turn, peddles his favourite TV series, a fictional Italian murder mystery that he’s been binge-watching, “The Touch of the Killer” to his wife and his work colleague among others.

Unsurprisingly, this recommendation comes again when both Salvo and Vale find themselves at a murder site. The dudes find their client's dead body at his flat where they were called to repair the television set in the pilot of Italian Netflix Original Incastrati.

Created by Leonardo Fasoli and Maddalena Ravagli, Incastrati appears as “Framed! A Sicilian Murder Mystery” on the international Netflix catalogue and occupies a blink and you miss presence on the platform in India. I’m yet to meet one person who has seen/heard of this; it’s nothing short of a Christmas miracle this was prompted as a recommendation on my Netflix. A potent cocktail of comedy, whodunnit and a family drama all at once, the series does justice to each element individually and even when it all comes together through the course of the series.

Framed features a technician brother-in-law duo- Salvo and Vale and their misadventures as they find themselves embroiled in a murder at their client’s house. The deceased, Mr Gambino a member of the Mafia accounting team, was having an extra-marital affair with Ester (Anna Favella), who is Vale’s sister and Salvo’s wife.

Between learning about Gambino’s demise and his affair with Ester, the two men try their best to find a suitable alibi. Through the course of six episodes, while evading the cops who are chasing the mafia and their tie-ups with Gambino, the duo finds themselves in and out of a chase game with the secret members of the mafia and the cops. In this slapstick dark series, not only do we put together missing pieces of the murder jigsaw but also encounter layers of a romantic relationship between a husband and a wife and the constant negotiation of culinary preferences between a mother and a son.

The course of finding their alibi takes the gents to a chapel which sells extraordinarily delicious cookies, an office of bureaucrats who ensure the duo pay 500 euros as a bribe to avoid getting slapped with 29 euros fine for a parking ticket, and in turn, they also plan to avenge the honour of Salvo's manhood after finding out that he has been cuckolded by the dead man. There’s also a whole other delicious side-plot on finding every excuse to diss ricotta in cake, asking for a receipt after purchasing baked goodies and lying to your old crush about your living arrangement. In short, you’re going to enjoy every subtitled line in the series and every second of the show is well structured leaving no scope for you to be on your phone while streaming this.   

Both Picone and Ficarra have nailed this project as actors. Even as an outsider who has never been to Sicily, I found myself rooting for the two men, wanting cake for breakfast and getting my hands on the pasta sauce recipe with onions while wanting to dine with the Mafia dudebros. The supporting cast is phenomenal, and even though the language was a barrier for me, their acting craft really helped me believe in each of the roles that they were playing.

A lot of what I’m saying and have expressed about the series so far has been like offering you, my dear reader, a bowl of dry and wet ingredients to bake a cake. However, my job here IS exactly that; to give you the ingredients for you to bake that cake and eat it too. Framed is a spectacular mini-series that gets the family drama angle right while making sure the comedy timing is perfect and the characters are fleshed out so well that you feel like you’ve known them all your life. For a runtime of under 30 minutes per episode, the screenplay is watertight and nothing feels out of place. Whether you’re single, coupled, or in an orgy over this weekend to celebrate Valentine’s day, take some time for self-care and stream this one. You’ll definitely find it in your heart to laugh through the Greta Thunberg joke if nothing else.

The series is available for streaming on Netflix in India.

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