Forever Out of My League is the latest addition to the Italian rom-com trilogy about a young woman with a genetic disorder discovering the ups and downs of life. It is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Marta (Ludovica Francesconi) lives with her childhood friends, Federica (Gaja Masciale) and Jacopo (Jozef Gjura) in her parents’ house. She has a rare genetic disorder and is in the hospital, being kept under watch after a highly successful lung transplant surgery.
Federica is having trouble with her job and wants to quit. Jacopo has feelings for Marta’s doctor, Dr Dario Caponi (Diego Giangrasso).
Dario informs Gabriele (Giancarlo Commare), Marta’s lover, that when asked to pick a family member allowed to visit her during her time in the hospital, she said she has no relatives and named him instead.
Gabriele declares that he will be staying at the hospital and has quit his job in Paris. Instead, he plans on working as an art history teacher at a local private high school.
One early morning at work, Federica’s colleague informs her that they will have to work until late as there has been an issue. Federica decides to quit and goes to her boss who is curious about her reason for resigning. She explains that she is simply not happy and suited for the job and wants the job to be handed to someone who appreciates it.
Marta gets moved to a private ward and is visited by Gabriele, Federica, Jacopo, Rebecca (Jenny De Nucci) and Giacomo (Riccardo Niceforo). Rebecca is Federica’s cousin and a famous social media influencer. She announces that her boyfriend, Giacomo, will be meeting her parents for the first time that night.
When they’re alone, Gabriele tries to apologise to Marta for doubting her and wrongfully accusing her but she cuts him off and tells him she forgives him. She too apologises for going too far with the situation regarding Tommasso. They then profess their love to each other and kiss.
Meanwhile, Rebecca and Giacomo pull up outside her parents’ house and go over some rules she set to ensure the dinner goes smoothly. Although it goes well, he ends up breaking one of the rules and gets a warning from Rebecca. After dinner, Rebecca’s parents give her their approval of Giacomo.
Jacopo frequently visits Marta in hopes of running into Dario. On one such visit, Dario informs Marta that she will be discharged the next day. This is answered with dismay from Jacopo.
Marta finally gets discharged from the hospital and spends the day with Gabriele. She returns to her job as an announcer at a store.
Jacopo accompanies Marta for her check-up. When she forgets to get her prescription renewed, he takes the opportunity to talk to Dario alone. Dario gives him his number and offers to take Jacopo out on his birthday. On their date, Jacopo and Dario get to know each other and Jacopo lowers his guard.
Gabriele asks Marta to move in together. They go house-hunting and after a few tries, decide on the perfect apartment. However, the agency requires tenants under 30 to have a guarantor, preferably a family member.
Gabriele overhears Jacopo asking Marta if her grandmother could be their guarantor. Gabriele asks Marta about her grandmother and she reveals that her grandmother is the one who brought her up after her parents passed away in an accident. She is vague about why they are no longer in touch but has no hope of reconciling.
With Federica’s help, the couple rents the apartment with the bank as their guarantor.
At her monthly check-up, Marta tries to find out more about Jacopo and Dario’s relationship but Dario equates her friendship with Jacopo to their relationship. This leads to Marta warning Jacopo about Dario, saying he’s “a bit reserved.”
On one of their stay-in dates, Rebecca checks Giacomo’s phone. She notices that his popularity has boosted since they started dating.
Marta finally moves out of her parent’s house and as planned, Federica and Jacopo turn her room into a Bed & Breakfast. They have a variety of guests, including a woman and her baby named Asia and Zoe.
Gabriele uses “staff meeting” as a cover-up and visits Marta’s grandmother after he finds her name in a box of Marta’s old things. He tries to convince her to talk to him but she drives him away by calling the police.
On their month-anniversary, Jacopo plans on gifting Dario a weekend away but is disappointed when Dario admits that he is still using Drool, a dating app. The pair decide to have an open relationship as Dario does not wish to commit to Jacopo yet.
Jacopo and Federica find Zoe alone in her room with a note promising Asia will return in a few days. Afraid that the police might put her in an orphanage, the duo decide to take care of her themselves.
Seeing her friends exhausted, Marta offers to take Zoe for a walk and runs into Rebecca and Giacomo. The baby does not take well to Rebecca and starts wailing when placed in her arms. Giacomo manages to calm her down, causing Rebecca to demand her back.
Refusing to give up, Gabriele returns to Marta’s grandmother’s house. This time, she lets him in and accuses Gabriele of intruding where he shouldn’t.
Jacopo is visibly upset at the nature of their relationship on their next date. At the movies, Jacopo confronts Dario about a non-verbal interaction he shares with a stranger while waiting in line.
On Marta’s day out with Zoe, Marta has a violent coughing fit but she denies the symptoms. When her friends come to check on her, she turns them away using her moving out as an excuse. Federica and Jacopo recognize this behaviour and know she is having a problem.
While watching Frankenstein, Rebecca realises that she has created a “monster” and intends to destroy Giacomo by posting a humiliating video of him.
Gabriele confesses to Marta that he had gone to meet her grandmother. Marta finally tells him why her relationship with her grandmother is beyond repair. Her mother and grandmother hadn’t talked to each other for eight years when her mom died. Marta reveals that she first met her grandmother when social workers brought Marta to her after her mother died.
She believes that her grandmother did her best but too much damage had been done. They would always argue and one such argument ended with wounding words and a slap.
While consoling Marta, Gabriele realises that she is sick and takes her to the hospital. He realizes that Marta’s life is in danger once again. If you still have doubts about the ending, here’s a full breakdown.
Forever Out of My League ending explained in detail:
Apologies are in order
Rebecca feels guilty about her actions and comes clean to Giacomo. He discloses that he had known she was behind the video all along and was waiting for her to tell him herself. He says he is angry at her but understands why she must have done it – he was getting in the way too much.
When asked why he doesn’t delete the video, Giacomo admits that he feels sympathy for his old self and isn’t ashamed of who he was.
Rebecca says sorry to him and he asks her to do him a favour. She publicly apologises to him for posting the video and they make up.
Seeing Marta in a critical condition, Gabriele shows up at her grandmother’s door, begging her to do something for her granddaughter who is dying.
Gabriele is threatening Dario to shift Marta to a different hospital when Dario points out that Gabriele doesn’t have the power to request a transfer as he isn’t related to Marta.
Just then, Marta’s grandmother shows up. She finally reunites with her granddaughter. Teary-eyed, she tells her about her strained relationship with Marta’s mother and tells her she thinks of Marta every day.
They realise that they have a void in them that none but the other can fill.
Converging and diverging
Asia returns with a man named Ludovico, claiming that he is Zoe’s father. She states that he didn’t know about Zoe which is why she had to leave her behind. The couple plan on trying to make their relationship work and raise Zoe together.
After hearing this, Jacopo rushes to Dario’s house. He resolves to end things with Dario to save himself from getting hurt. Dario invites him in, unsuspecting of what is to come.
Jacopo says that their breakup was inevitable and not out of the blue. Dario disagrees, saying all he asked for was time. Jacopo says he gave him time. Dario admits that he believed their relationship would end differently because of how long Jacopo had persisted.
As they are coming to terms with their breakup, Dario gets a message from the hospital about Marta.
Marta’s fate
On hearing about Marta’s grave condition, everyone gathers at the hospital.
After talking to her grandmother, Marta feels tired and decides to rest her eyes for a while. Gabriele stays by her side and drifts off to sleep. He is shaken awake by the hospital staff forcing him to leave the room as they check her vitals.
Gabriele leaves the hospital to find everyone waiting for updates about Marta’s state and tells them that she is alright.
In the end, we see Marta awaken with a gleam of enthusiasm in her eyes as a smile lights up her face and she winks at the audience to say there’s more left to see of her and she’s not done just yet.
Also Read: Moonshot (2022) summary and ending explained