AllMovie

This fantasy epic adapts three fairy tales by 17th century Neapolitan writer Giambattista Basile, each one focusing on the royalty in neighboring kingdoms. In one, a king (John C. Reilly) goes off to cut the heart out of a sea monster, which could be the key to curing his wife (Salma Hayek) of infertility; in another, a dim-witted ruler (Toby Jones) neglects his daughter's search for a husband as he becomes obsessed with a flea that grows to enormous size; in the last tale, an oversexed monarch (Vincent Cassel) is bewitched by an elderly woman with a beautiful singing voice. Directed by Matteo Garrone (Gomorrah).