_Anima bella_ is a little gem of Italian independent cinema that deals with the misery of a small family adversely affected by the ugliness of gambling. The vicissitudes of the young protagonist, excellently played by debutant actress Madalina Maria Jekal, accompany the viewer in a story of role reversal in which a daughter has to parent her own father. With its slow pace, rural settings, and non-professional actors, Dario Albertini's second feature film is a perfect transposition of old Italian neorealist cinema to the present day.