Directors, as you would expect, love working with actors; they are, after all, the tools of their trade, used as conduits to tell their stories.

But directors can have their favourites, often referred to as their muses, who they like to work with on a regular basis.

Illustrating this would be Paolo Sorrentino, who has Toni Servillo starring in his latest film, marking the sixth time the actor has appeared in his films.

Servillo stars as the President of Italy, facing a few tricky decisions to make.

Coming to the end of term in power is Mariano De Santis (Servillo). He has six months left as president, but has a few big decisions to make, which he isn’t keen on; so much so that he wants his daughter Dorotea (Anna Ferzetti), who works for him, to make them for him.

He has other things on his mind, haunted by the death of his wife eight months ago, as he is. He is missing her dreadfully, but not only that, he his obsessed by the fact that she had an affair, and he’s yet to discover who with, although he has his suspicions.

But the closer he gets to leaving his role, the more he comes to terms with the fact that he really needs to be more hands on with the loose threads he has in front of him.

Sorrentino’s latest is certainly a different direction to his last film Pathenope, and you can see why he would want to work with Servillo yet again.

Servillo gives a deliberate, static performance as the president; there is little movement, and when there is, it’s leisurely, with the focus being the mental struggles he’s dealing with. And he is mesmerising throughout, pondering these issues, and eventually prepared to face his responsibilities.

The Italian director’s style is a mostly traditional, peppered with some enjoyably quirky moments, such as his appreciation for a certain DJ artist Shablo – played by himself. There are relationships with those around him, such as his daughter who is controlling what he eats and making sure he doesn’t smoke, as well as other members of his staff.

But at the centre of it, is a man trying to come to terms with losing his wife; he may be a man in one of the highest positions of power, but the grief he suffers from clearly reveals him to be mortal.

Its pace may be on the plodding side, but it’s an elegant character study, brimming with warmth and vulnerability, that only reinforces Sorrentino’s desire to put Servillo back on the screen in one of his films yet again.