'Real Men' Ending Explained & Finale Recap: What Happens To Luigi, Mattia, Riccardo, & Massimo?

Real Men’s ending is about consequences. The story is centered around Luigi, Mattia, Riccardo, and Massimo, four men who have been friends with each other since college. Luigi married Tiziana and had two kids with her, but then Tiziana decided to leave Luigi and fornicate with her personal trainer. Mattia married Federica and had Emma, but the couple then decided to go their separate ways, thereby leaving Emma in a bit of a pickle. Riccardo was in a relationship with Ilenia, who he was cheating on with Valentina, but when Ilenia recommended that they have an open relationship, Riccardo’s life started to fall apart. Massimo was in a relationship with Daniela, but when he lost his job and she began earning enough to put food on the table, Massimo felt that his masculinity was in danger. Since Mattia felt that their reactions to their unique situations were particularly misogynistic and toxic, they began attending a course to unlearn their patriarchal habits. Did they succeed, or did they fail? Let’s find out.

Spoiler Alert

Luigi and Tiziana Reunite

Luigi worked as a bus driver, and Tiziana was an instructor at a driving school. Despite their busy schedules, Luigi made sure that their kids, Francesco and Sara, weren’t neglected and they ate, slept, and went to school on time. Tiziana contributed to the family the best she could, but since Luigi was always too exhausted to be excited about sex, Tiziana decided to cheat on him with her personal trainer, Guglielmo. When the truth came to light, Luigi went to live with his mother while Tiziana alternated between her house and Guglielmo’s humble abode. Eventually, she came to the realization that she wouldn’t be able to spend her entire life with Guglielmo, and she wanted some level of stability with Luigi. So, when Luigi and Tiziana briefly reunited to throw a birthday party for Francesco, they couldn’t stop themselves from re-exploring each other’s bodies and canceling their plans of breaking up their family into pieces. And that just seemed odd. I mean, I understand that the show is about understanding masculinity, patriarchy, misogyny, and whatnot. But that doesn’t mean that cheating can simply be excused. The argument can be made that if one half of a couple is okay with forgiving the other half, then who are we to judge? 

However, the issue here is that it sets a precedent. This isn’t a real story. These characters are generalizations of real-life people. Hence, when you have a sensitive guy like Luigi getting cheated upon by a touch-starved woman like Tiziana and then have the former forgive the latter because they’ve suddenly rekindled their passion for each other and they have to think about the kids, that feels like a cop-out. Sure, Tiziana keeps saying that her decision to cheat on Luigi is “nobody’s fault,” even though she means that Luigi’s lack of sex drive makes it all his fault, but cheating is always a choice. You don’t trip on your shoelaces and end up cheating on your partner. I don’t know if real-life people face the consequences of such actions, but when you have made a fictional show called Real Men to talk about real-life issues that men face, it would’ve been great if the showrunners stayed committed to their cause and set an example for what men should do if the women in their life are cheaters.

Mattia and Federica Cancel Their Divorce

Mattia and Federica were going through a divorce because the latter had cheated on him with the general physician. Federica was also a “control freak,” which was why Emma didn’t want to stay with her. She shifted to Mattia’s house and upon realizing that her father was still in the process of moving on from Federica, she tasked him with sleeping with 10 women. Emma kept talking about the importance of experimentation and being sexually curious while being in a relationship with a German guy called Gustav. She claimed that they were with each other just for the sex, but it was obvious that Emma was in love with Gustav. Eventually, Emma came to the realization that she hadn’t practiced what she had preached, and that broke her heart. At around the same time, Mattia and Federica went to finalize their divorce, but then they hooked up with each other. Even Gustav and Emma seemingly got together after the former begged for her forgiveness. So, what was the point of this whole subplot? I mean, I understand Gustav and Emma not being sure about what they meant to each other and figuring stuff out on the fly. 

But, again, why was Federica forgiven so easily for cheating on Mattia when that was the reason they had decided to divorce each other? They had endless arguments about how Mattia was barely making ends meet as a tour guide and how selling a property that Mattia was sentimental about could help “both” Mattia and Federica’s financial situation (Federica was doing fine as a photographer BTW). And all that just vanished into thin air? What’s with this disproportionate portrayal of consequences? I mean, the two barely had a conversation about understanding who you love after being with the wrong people, and then, boom, they are in each other’s pants? Is it that easy to forgive your partner if they’ve cheated on you, or does this show have an agenda to indoctrinate men to get over their partner’s adulterous behavior and claim that that’s undoing one’s toxic masculinity? I know that sounds pretty controversial, but the fact that Riccardo got what he deserved while Tiziana and Federica were handed a get-out-of-cheaters-jail card doesn’t really sit right with me.

Riccardo and Ilenia Break Up

Riccardo ran a bistro with Carlo. Riccardo was in a relationship with Ilenia. Carlo was in a relationship with Valentina. Riccardo and Valentina were cheating on their respective partners with each other. But when Ilenia suggested that they turn their exclusive relationship into an open one, Riccardo was miffed. It was obvious from the get-go that he was being hypocritical. He was scandalized after learning that his parents had been quite experimental throughout their marriage, which was why they were still together in their 80s, but he didn’t have the ability to self-reflect and see that he was an adulterous douchebag, which is way more “scandalous” than two people in a consensual open relationship. He was so horrified at this whole thing that his parents had to go and tell Ilenia that her decision to push Riccardo into this flexible situation was wrong. So, she went on and turned her bond with Riccardo into an exclusive one again. What did Riccardo do after that? He tried to fornicate with Valentina, got caught by Carlo, and was fired from his job. Hence, it was quite satisfying to see Ilenia kick Riccardo out of her life after learning that he had cheated on her. In fact, she learned that Riccardo was sleeping with Valentina way before all these open relationship shenanigans began, and he was giving Ilenia a hard time because, according to him, it was okay for him to be physically intimate with other people, but he couldn’t tolerate Ilenia doing the same. 

The man was jobless and homeless, and he had lost the love of his life all because of his weird notions about masculinity and femininity. He went to Massimo’s seminars about how men were being treated poorly because of the rise of feminism. However, by cheating with Valentina, he was betraying another man, Carlo, thereby perpetuating the cycle of insecurity that men suffer from, and then they attend seminars that tell them that women are the real problem, not men who backstab other men. I mean, that was such a great way of highlighting the fact that a man’s worst enemy is another man. Men will demean women on the basis of everything, from the things that they wear to the work that they do. But they’ll never think that, by doing so, they are mistreating a man’s sister, wife, mother, or friend. Where’s the “masculinity” in that? So, yeah, after seeing Riccardo behave so horribly, his punishment seemed appropriate. He deserved something worse, but it felt right when he faced the consequences of his horrible actions. Now, when you compare that to how Tiziana and Federica were treated, doesn’t it feel odd? Those two women were more or less as unfaithful and disloyal as Riccardo. Why were they forgiven? Sure, Tiziana showed some remorse, but it seemed like her decision to Guglielmo had more to do with his living conditions and less to do with her sense of guilt. I don’t know if Federica even expressed that. Then why the leniency towards them? Where’s the equality now?

Massimo and Daniela Break Up

It seemed like it was impossible to surpass Riccardo’s obnoxious behavior, but Massimo made it look like a walk in the park. Massimo ran a TV studio, but he was fired because of his chauvinistic behavior. So, in order to pay for their expensive life, his partner, Daniela, began working as a content creator. Sure, her content was centered around her dog, Baguette, but that was better than being jobless. Eventually, their housekeeper, Maria, began making vlogs and dance videos as well. And Massimo couldn’t tolerate the fact that they were the earning members of the family instead of a man. So, he began a program called “reconstruction of virility” for men like him who thought that masculinity was in danger because of feminism. His misogyny and regressive thoughts were rewarded by other misogynistic and regressive men, and he quickly surpassed Daniela in terms of popularity. Since Daniela portrayed herself as a “strong, independent woman,” which wasn’t exactly true because she did get a leg up after coasting off of Massimo’s money for the longest time, her image was hampered when her followers learned how sexist her partner was. She lost everything while he was invited back to his old studio for an interview with a popular journalist called Selvaggia. 

Massimo saw that as the re-establishment of the status quo, but as soon as the interview started, he realized he had dug his own grave as he failed to defend all the outdated stuff that he had said on his program. The final nail on the coffin that he didn’t know he was lying in came in the form of Daniela’s phone call, where she announced their breakup live on the air because she couldn’t tolerate his duplicitous activities, and since living with him was actively harming her, professionally and personally. When Massimo got home, Daniela and Maria were both on their way out. Since Riccardo had been thrown out of his house, he was the only company that Massimo had. Although both of them hugged each other, as if it was a really sad moment, in reality, it was great to see these two horrendous men get their just deserts. There were several moments where Massimo could’ve collaborated with Daniela and made an online show where they combined their skills to make a lot of money. But no. Massimo had to undo all the progress Daniela had made to feel “like a man.” Well, since his “masculine” image had been shredded to pieces on live TV, he had all the time to think about whether or not one should strive to “feel manly” if it comes at the cost of their loved ones.

Two Months Later

In Real Men’s ending, there was a time jump of two months, and we saw the four friends going to their college to relive their old memories. Massimo was trying to sell his villa. Riccardo was trying to get into the dog spa business. Luigi and Tiziana’s relationship was going strong. And Mattia still hadn’t revealed to Emma that he hadn’t finalized his divorce with Federica, and they were in a relationship again. After that exchange of information, the guys played football with the students of the college in slow motion, while the music soared to indicate that the protagonists had achieved something. That was really confusing. I mean, this show was supposed to be about men unlearning toxic masculinity, right? Luigi and Mattia’s achievement was that they had forgiven their respective cheating wives. Riccardo didn’t show any change, and the same can be said about Massimo. So, what was the point of that “wholesome” ending? 

Am I supposed to feel happy for these men that after going through this whole ordeal, they still had each other’s backs? Should I feel melancholic about the fact that these men, who just wanted to enjoy life, were forced to realize that they weren’t good people? I just don’t know. I think the show’s intentions were good. It was going in the right direction, for the most part. But somewhere down the line, the makers realized that maybe their anti-men messaging was too much, and in an attempt to dial things down, they made a whole goddamn mess. Hence, the whole exercise feels pointless. Men should be vulnerable with each other. They should be honest with each other. They should think a hundred times before telling someone that they could be trusted. They shouldn’t practice discrimination. They should have values and have the spine to stand by them even during periods of great crisis. Men shouldn’t be allowed to “act like men” if it means that somebody is going to be hurt, physically or psychologically. As a man, that’s what I think about men and masculinity. I don’t know the message that Real Men wants to convey. If you have a clue, let me know in the comments section below.

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