Arka Mukhopadhyay
Love is a rather funny thing, akin to our different ideas surrounding the abstraction. Directed by Alessio Maria Federici, the Italian-original romantic comedy movie ‘Four to Dinner’ (original title: ‘Quattro metà’) is a puzzling criss-cross of romances cut out for the millennial life. The story within the story follows the entwined lives of four — Matteo, Dario, Chiara, and Giulia — as they chart the maze of love at the crossroads of adulthood while juggling with their careers, friendships, and feelings.
The circumlocutory nature of the movie does not allow us to be confident at times, and the suggestive finale does not scream out a conclusion. Let us dissect the final moments if you seek to untangle the equations. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Four to Dinner Plot Synopsis
In the prologue, Francesco and Federica visit Sara and Luca for lunch. Francesco and Luca talk about soul mates – how humans were perfect hermaphrodites according to Plato’s ‘Symposium’ until the divinity broke them in halves looking for their other — and possibly better — halves. In this context, Sara and Luca tell the other couple a story while the other guests are on the way. Shortly after they were married, Sara and Luca invited two single friends each to gather. In flashback, we see that Luca’s friends are late to arrive.
Smooth operator Dario is a lawyer, while Matteo is the classy, sensitive guy with glasses in his pocket. On the other hand, Sara’s friend Giulia is a mathematician working for a financial modeling firm. She is aggressive and free-spirited, with short blonde hair. The other friend, Chiara, is a brunette anesthetist, a traditional beauty. Giulia is a bit of an adventurer, while the traditionally beautiful Chiara is looking for stability in life. Luca and Sara plan to set up Giulia with Dario and Chiara with Matteo. The story veers off the cliff when the four complicate matters, but there is possibly a silver lining where there is love.
Four to Dinner Ending: Who Is the Father of Giulia’s Baby? Whom Does Matteo Marry?
Luca and Sara attempt to set their friends up at the party; while Sara thinks that opposites attract, Luca believes that birds of the same feather flock together. While Dario is fast to text Giulia, Matteo procrastinates before calling Chiara. Matteo, however, scores a date with Chiara by playing it easy — they go to the “laid back” and “isolated” place where they do not have a booking. They discover a Jewish wedding party going on at the venue. Persuaded by the bride, Matteo and Chiara have a dreamy night of revelry. Their night ends with them kissing. By preparing fake meringue, Dario makes progress with Giulia.
Although Giulia detects the meringue is store-brought, she goes out on a date with Dario. When Giulia cuts to the chase, they hook up on that night. But as both agree, there remain no strings to bind them together. Meanwhile, while buying books from a bookstore, Giulia encounters Matteo, whose office is upstairs. Giulia has picked up Paul Auster’s ‘4 3 2 1,’ and Matteo recommends some more books. When he plans to buy her some of the books since the stack is heavy, Giulia subtly asks him out on a date. The date ends in Giulia’s house, and they start finding commonalities.
Two months pass and Matteo and Chiara seem to have embarked upon a relationship. Chiara does not believe that they are dating. Matteo puts forward his theory that if a partner leaves twenty odd things in someone’s house, they are in a stable relationship. While conversing with Chiara about Giorgio from the office, Giulia discovers that she has missed her periods. Chiara tells her how Dario wanted to kiss the other day in the same call. Giulia thinks of calling up Matteo, who arrives with two pizzas and emotional support. She wants Matteo to be present at a seven on a scale of one to ten.
Giulia and Matteo brainstorm baby names, fixating on Andrea and Vega. Matteo comes off as a stable partner, and Giulia starts liking him more. After three months, Matteo and Giulia get married. Giulia gets a job in Lisbon, Portugal, and although she thinks about turning down the job offer, Matteo promises to go with her. He is a caring father and husband, and Giulia expresses her love for Matteo in a scene at the airport. Therefore, it is inevitable that Matteo ends up with Giulia, although Giulia still has feelings for Dario. They have dated for a while, and Dario may have been the father of Giulia’s child. They slept before Giulia and Matteo’s tryst.
Possibly following the revelation by Chiara that Dario tried to hit on her, Giulia thinks of calling Matteo — because he is a better fatherly candidate in her eyes. It does not matter in the finality of events since Dario and Giulia suffer a bitter patch in their long-distance relationship. They cannot communicate, and even when they do, they end up fighting. At the hospital where Chiara gives birth to a baby, Dario and Giulia conclude their relationship with a kiss. Matteo also comes clean about him sleeping with co-worker Stella on the trip to London. Therefore, it seems that Giulia and Matteo end up together.
Do Dario And Chiara End Up Together? Who Is the Father of Chiara’s Baby?
While Giulia and Matteo get to know each other better, Chiara thinks of calling Dario after hitting a moped with her car. They go out to dine, but when Dario asks to give her a lift, Chiara politely rejects him, saying she does not go out with men like him. When Giulia’s pregnancy becomes the talk among friends, Dario and Chiara start afresh with a friendship. When Dario is in his bedroom with co-worker Claudia, Chiara storms into the room and makes a dramatic scene. She wants to go to the IKEA, and Dario complies by giving her the car keys.
Dario and Chiara also come on board for the trip to Lisbon and catch a glimpse of the wonderous humpback whale. Dario and Chiara have a ‘Titanic‘ moment shortly after seeing the whale, but Chiara later tells Dario that the kiss was impulsive and momentary. Later in the story, Chiara starts dating “you don’t say” Alberto while she stays in touch with Matteo. She also longs for a child with Matteo, and they try several times. Therefore, Matteo is the possible father of Chiara’s baby, and the smile on his face at the hospital suggests so. However, Dario has feelings for Chiara throughout the story, and in the end, their embrace means that Dario ends up with Chiara.
Read More: Where Was Four to Dinner Filmed? Is It A True Story?
