Netflix’s Italian comedy mystery drama, Fantasy Football Ruined Our Lives, is about a group of friends united by their love for fantasy football. They got into trouble when one of their friends, Gianni, went missing after his bachelor party. On the day of his wedding, Gianni was nowhere to be found. His would-be bride tried to contact him, but he was unreachable; his best friends had no idea where he was, and it was almost as if he’d simply disappeared. His fantasy football fanatic friends were more concerned about the fact that Gianni had failed to submit his fantasy team within deadline. So, where was Gianni? Was he murdered? Did something happen at the bachelor party? Were his best friends hiding a secret from the cops? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Why was Simone considered a suspect?
The cops arrived at the wedding venue and arrested Giani’s best friends, Simone, Federico, Nicola, Jacopo, and Francesco. Federico, who was an attorney, had agreed to represent his friends when the case was presented before a judge. Apart from closely inspecting the spot where Gianni had his bachelor party, the cops suspected that something bloody had occurred the previous night. There was blood on the floor, and due to the fact that Simone had repeatedly told Gianni that he would kill him on text, the cops suspected him of murdering his friend. Simone explained that it was all just fun banter. Since he and his friends were obsessed with fantasy football, they often got into heated arguments and conflicts. But murdering his best friend for it was out of the question. Simone used to live on Gianni’s couch. They were extremely close, and when Gianni decided to get married to his longtime partner, Bianca, Simone had no choice but to move into his grandma’s place. Simone was happy for his best friend, but there was no denying that moving out of Gianni’s apartment was quite an emotional moment for him. While Gianni had assumed that getting married was the obvious next step, he was not in a great place after making the decision.
Gianni and his friends were obsessed with fantasy football, and they used to spend most of their days discussing strategies, and anyone who had no idea about the world that they lived in would consider their passion a waste of time. Bianca felt that way, and she often expressed her disappointment in Gianni. Meanwhile, Gianni and their new team member, Andrea, had become friends. Andrea was the only female member of the group, and from the minute Simone met her, he’d been obsessed with her. He had been planning to ask her out, but he always ran out of courage whenever the time came. One day, Gianni and Andrea started to chat, and they realized that they enjoyed each other’s company. Gianni had dropped Andrea at her place, and while at first they’d decided to call it a night, they ended up getting physically involved. Later, when Simone finally managed to gather his courage and ask Andrea out on a date, she was already with Gianni at the time. Simone was heartbroken, and Gianni knew that sleeping with the girl his best friend had a crush on wasn’t the right thing to do. Both Gianni and Andrea knew that their fling wasn’t meant to be anything serious, and they felt bad about hurting Simone, so they decided to end their brief affair.
At Gianni’s bachelor party, when the boys played the game of truth, Gianni admitted to cheating on Bianca. He didn’t mention who the woman was, but Simone soon started to join the dots. He suddenly remembered that he’d seen Gianni’s rug at Andrea’s house. Gianni realized it was time that he confessed the truth to his best friend. Just as he was about to confess, Simone stated that he’d already figured out that Gianni had cheated on Bianco with Andrea. Simone was devastated and furious at the same time; he’d grabbed hold of Gianni’s championship trophy, and as far he could remember he wanted to attack Gianni with it, but he didn’t have any recollection of how things had unfolded.
Was Gianni murdered?
During Fantasy Football Ruined Our Lives’ ending, the cops approached the judge and informed her that they’d found the main surveillance camera and the footage showed what had happened the previous night. By then Simone had already confessed to killing Gianni even though he barely had any recollection of it, but he assumed since he was high and extremely frustrated, he might have done the unthinkable. But the surveillance footage told a different story altogether. Simone had grabbed the trophy, but instead of attacking Gianni with it, he collapsed on the floor while puking his guts out. Simone immediately passed out. Gianni tripped and fell on the floor while simultaneously throwing up. But Gianni didn’t pass out, though he suffered a cut on his forehead. He got back on his feet, and he cleaned Simone’s face. He walked into the living room and looked at his friends with admiration. According to the footage, before Gianni left, he wrote a note and kept it in Simone’s coat pocket. After watching the footage, Simone immediately searched his pocket and found the note. In his letter, Gianni wrote that he’d come to realize that he wasn’t meant to get married, have kids, and live in a quiet, posh neighborhood; that was not how he’d envisioned his life, so he’d decided to bail on Bianca and just disappear.
Did the friends reunite?
Bianco was miserable after being stood up at the wedding altar, but even then she wanted to meet Gianni one last time for closure. When she met his friends at a bar, she told them that it was not Fantasy Football that brought them together; Simone agreed, stating that they were all deserters and that was ultimately what united them. All of them were afraid of facing their fears, so they preferred abandoning them. Simone was an aspiring screenwriter, but he never really tried to turn his dream into reality. Francesco had locked himself in his room because he had only taken two exams in seven years, and he was afraid of facing the fact that he didn’t graduate. Jacopo wanted to stop taking drugs, but he never really could do it. Instead of providing for his family, Nicola had invested all his time and effort into fantasy football, because of which his wife ultimately kicked him out of the house, and Federico preferred keeping himself occupied with his job and fantasy football so that he never had to come out to his parents, because he was afraid of their reaction. All of them were running away from something, and fantasy football allowed them to escape. But this time Simone and his friends decided not to let Gianni run away. As his lifelong best friend, Simone knew exactly where he was. Mykonos used to be Gianni and Simone’s sweet escape, and it also happened to be the place where they first smoked a joint together. So, when Gianni disappeared, Simone knew that he ended up in Mykonos.
In Fantasy Football Ruined Our Lives’ ending, Simone and his friends arrived at Mykonos, and they finally found Gianni at a local eatery. Gianni was happy to see his friends, but he also sensed that Simone was extremely disappointed in him. The friends got into a brief fight; Gianni requested them to give him another chance, and they finally forgave Gianni. Simone wasn’t surprised when Gianni stated that he planned on permanently living in Mykonos—it was the deserter/the escaper in him that had convinced him that living in a foreign country was the only option he’d left. But the one lesson that Simone had learned after everything that they’d been through was that escaping wasn’t really a solution. It made one feel temporarily relaxed, but they had to face the consequences of their actions one day or another. To Gianni’s surprise, Bianca showed up. She wanted closure, and Simone had decided that Gianni should speak to her one last time.
Did Simone and Andrea fall in love?
The friends continued to obsess over fantasy football; it was the only thing that made them feel hopeful about their lives, and that hadn’t changed. But they’d learned to be more responsible in their everyday life. Nicola decided to apologizes to his wife and get back together, but he soon discovered that she was involved with Leonardo Pavoletti, one of his favorite footballers, and instead of being heartbroken, Nicola ended up taking a selfie with him. Federico finally gathered the courage to come out to his parents. His mother didn’t take it well; she passed out immediately, and his father was left speechless, though their butler had enthusiastically congratulated him! Things didn’t go exactly as Federico had planned, but at least he didn’t have to live with the constant guilt of having to lie to his parents. After the case, the judge and the cops had also developed an interest in fantasy football, and they ended up dedicating a few hours of their day to it.
Simone was not ready at first to give Andrea a chance after everything that they’d been through. Andrea said she had always liked Simone and even tried to drop hints, but he never really picked up on them. She’d later realized that it was better to get physically involved with someone who wouldn’t commit to her than take the risk of being vulnerable and falling in love. Simone realized that she never loved Gianni; she had always adored him. During the ending of the film, Simone and Andrea shared a kiss, suggesting that they finally decided to get into a relationship.
