Nuttier than a hatter clutching a great big box of frogs, Reality is a wacky dose of pure Italian arthouse eccentricity. A comedy fable with a moral sting in the tail.

Our hero Luciano runs a Naples fish stall by day, supplementing his income by moonlighting occasionally as a drag queen act at weddings and selling knock-off baking robots to elderly housewives (nope, The Sloth hadn’t seen these before either – someone tell Mary Berry she’s missing a branding opportunity). He’s also father to a Big Brother obsessed young daughter. When the Big Brother audition train comes to town looking for contestants for the next series, Luciano throws himself into the mix, seeing an opportunity for fame, fortune and life beyond the fish stall.

What follows is a rollercoaster ride through Luciano’s emotions as hope turns to obsession then to depression then to paranoia. All against a backdrop so nosily, colourfully, argumentatively Italian you can almost smell the parmesan.

If you’re familiar with the crazily bonkers films of Spanish arthouse king Pedro Almodovar (one of The Sloth’s faves), this isn’t dissimilar. Granted, it could do with a haircut – there are only so many scenes of gesticulating Italian nonas that you really need. But it’s imaginative, moving at times and gave us serious pause for thought. Which doesn’t happen often in the days of Transformers # 97.

UK release 22 March