Sicily Express: Should you watch or skip the latest Netflix show? A viewer’s guide

Sicily Express dropped on Netflix worldwide on December 5, 2025, but in the U.S., it followed on December 22.

The show is built for anyone who has ever wished they could teleport between work and the family chaos back home, especially when the holidays hit, and you are juggling many obligations.

It’s a five-episode Italian miniseries about two Sicilian nurses stuck working up in Milan, but then they stumble on a magical dumpster that takes them back and forth between the city and their hometown in Sicily. Suddenly, their nightmare commute and all the guilt about missing family are solved. Sort of.

We have Salvatore Ficarra and Valentino Picone running the show: writing, directing, and also starring. They bring their usual blend of offbeat humor and sharp eye for Southern Italian life. The series features a magical realism theme, but it’s still drenched in Christmas spirit and doesn’t shy away from poking fun at the quirks of Italian society.

If you are asking yourself whether it’s worth squeezing into your holiday binge list, well, depends. Do you like slapstick, social satire, and a little bit of Christmas magic thrown in? If not, maybe stick to the classics. But if you are up for something a little nuts, Sicily Express is probably for you.

What is Sicily Express about?

Sicily Express kicks off with a relatable chaos: two nurses, Salvo and Valentino, juggling life in Milan and home in Sicily, going back and forth on cheap flights. Their boss is a Calabrian who is faking that he is Milanese. Plus, he is the human roadblock to their back home for Christmas dreams. So, the pressure is on, travel gets nightmarish, and being everywhere at once is impossible, until, out of nowhere, a magic dumpster appears in their lives.

One night, thanks to a wish from Valentino’s kid, this dumpster pops up, and they can hop from Milan to Sicily in a blink. At first, this cheat code seems like the Holy Grail: work in Milan, sleep at home, live the dream. But miracles have strings attached. This shortcut turns their lives messier. It’s supposed to make things easier, but it just ties them up in new knots.

The premiere episode of Sicily Express kicks off the storyline by showing Salvo and Valentino going against their boss in Milan, which makes their trip back home even harder until the Christmas miracle shows the teleporting dumpster. In the next episode, the partners in crime try to conceal the dumpsters in Sicily and Milan at the same time, wanting to safeguard their enchanted route, but the unpleasant smells and dangerous lies are about to blow the cover.

By Episode 3, Salvo can’t help himself, and he starts experimenting with the dumpster and runs into the cops. Things get dicey. By Episode 4, their “business” takes off, Claudia and Maria Teresa start piecing the puzzle together, and then a random patient gets kidnapped, and it’s chaos. Finally, in Episode 5, Christmas is coming, Palermo soccer fans cause a ruckus, Aurora goes missing, and the prime minister is holding a meeting.

Under all the bonkers magic, there’s some heart. Valentino’s daughter, Aurora, just wants her dad around. The long-distance thing is rough. She figures maybe her parents argue so much because they are always apart. If Santa could fix one thing, it would be that stupid distance.

Valentino could have clocked in at his father-in-law’s fish factory, but he sticks with nursing, even if it means family drama. Maria Teresa backs him, mostly, but she would kill for a way to have him around more. Sicily Express not just their story; it’s anyone trying to chase a career and keep their people close, all at the same time.

Should you watch Sicily Express?

Sicily Express is the TV equivalent of a cozy blanket, super easy to watch, doesn’t fry your brain, but there’s a real heart beating under the hood. There are some sharp little digs at society if you are paying attention. You will find yourself caring, but you won’t drown in the sappy side.

Give it a go if you are into goofy Italian humor or slapstick. It has just five bite-sized episodes, and none of them is a slog. If you like stories about migration, family shenanigans, or identity exploration, Sicily Express has got you. And there’s a dash of magical realism, but it’s there to make the characters pop, not to blow your mind with special effects.

Maybe skip it if you are a snob for subtlety and don’t like silly comedy. Or if you want Game of Thrones-level fantasy and a Marvel-sized budget. If the thought of five episodes about a magic dumpster sounds like too much, maybe give it a miss. The same goes if you don’t like in-jokes about Italian culture, or you want a story that re-invents the wheel. Sicily Express is not out here winning Pulitzers for narrative innovation.

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At the end of the day, Sicily Express is exactly what it says on the tin: a warm, funny, sometimes surprisingly sharp take on family, identity, and trying to be in two places at once. Is it life-changing? No. But it will make your holiday season a little brighter.

You can catch it now on Netflix, as all five episodes are streaming, waiting to take you from Milan to Sicily in a magic dumpster.

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