There’s Still Tomorrow has passed Greta Gerwig’s Barbie to become the most-watched movie in Italy this year.

Delia, played by actress-turned-director Paola Cortellesi, wakes up next to her husband, Ivano (Valerio Mastandrea). “Buongiorno!” she says. Without a word, he slaps her hard. Then Delia gets up to start her day, with violent abuse seemingly integrated into her daily routine.

At first, it looks like There’s Still Tomorrow, shot in stark black-and-white, will be a tribute to Italian neo-realist classics, but this is no kitchen sink social drama.

“As a child, I remember stories my grandma and great grandma would tell me about other women who lived in their neighborhood, women like Delia who would be subjected to violence, beaten up by their husbands or relatives,” says Cortellesi. “What shocked me was how this tragic thing was considered normal. For these women, it was daily life. But they always tell these stories with a touch of irony, of humor.”

“It’s set in the past, but it’s about the female condition, and the roots of patriarchal culture go deep, but they are still very present today.”

The film has struck a chord. There’s Still Tomorrow is box office hit, grossing more than €30.5 million ($33.4 million) to date, making it the year’s second most successful film, behind Gretta Gerwig’s blockbuster Barbie at €32 million.

Ranked by admissions, There’s Still Tomorrow is number one, with 4.49 million tickets sold to Barbie‘s 4.39 million.

Cortellesi’s film is already the 6th most successful Italian movie of all time and, by the end of its run, will surpass Benighi’s Oscar winning Life Is Beautiful (1997)—another period film that mixed comedy with serious drama —to take the overall number 5 spot.

The movie has also rekindled discussions about domestic violence, femicide and women’s rights in Italy, debates that dominated public discourse since the kidnapping and murder last month of the student Giulia Cecchettin, 22, and the arrest of her boyfriend for the crime.

Says Cortellesi: “There’s this desire to discuss a subject that was just there waiting to be talked about. This movie kind of triggered the debate.”

On November 25, the film was shown in the Italian Senate to mark the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. There have been screenings for schoolchildren across the country.

“To date around 300,000 high school students have seen the film,” says Andrea Scrosati, the Italian producer of There’s Still Tomorrow. “Schools are using it as way to discuss domestic violence and female empowerment,”

One of Italy’s most famous, and beloved, film and TV stars, Cortellesi began as comedian on radio and TV, doing impressions of politicians, celebs and musicians, before shifting to writing and acting in rom-coms and family dramedies.

Her films, many directed by real-life partner Riccardo Milani, are mainstream entertainment that, below the surface, tackle difficult issues, social disparity, domestic abuse and patriarchal culture.

At the start of the film, all she wishes for is a good marriage for her daughter and is saving up money for her wedding dress. Ivano, despite his violence, is shown as pitiful, and stupid, sort of a buffon.

“We wanted to make him an idiot so that there would be no risk of anyone idealizing or imitating him,” says Cortellesi. “It’s a way of exorcising the fear of the monster. When you laugh at someone’s stupidity, your fear of them disappears.”

There’s Still Tomorrow is set in 1946, ahead of a referendum where Italians were asked to vote to remain a monarchy or to become a republic. For the first time in history, women were given the vote.

Blending Genres

“The movie is a bit of trick,” says Cortellesi. “We plant clues throughout but because we use romantic comedy, a bit of thriller, a bit of musical, people focus on Delia and start thinking that she’ll be freed by another man, a good man.”

It’s only by the end that audiences realize There’s Still Tomorrow is a love story, “but it isn’t about romantic love, it’s about the love of mother and daughte. I wanted to tell this story for my daughter, who is 11, and for the kids of her generation,” says Cortellesi.

Transcending Politics

The film’s success has transcended politics: both Italy’s far-right government and the left-wing opposition joined in the debate around domestic violence.

“It has nothing to do with politics, but with people being fed up with the current situation, where a woman in Italy is killed every 72 hours just because she is a woman, killed by her boyfriend or partner,” says Cortellesi. “This isn’t a new statistic, but one that’s been constant through different governments, left and right. People are fed up of hearing this same story over and over again. They want to do something to help change the culture. To break this circle of violence.”