Minerva Academy is what happens when an Italian military academy blends with Beverly Hills 90210.
Well, and a bit of Full Metal Jacket, since they’re woken in the middle of the night to do training, and given bad haircuts, in the stayle of that film.
For new recruit Salvo (Ciro Minopoli), he could do with the enrollment to stop him selling drugs, and since an older boy wants to be his mentor, he’s there to put him on the right path… except that he soon goes missing.
It’s less complex for everyone else, since each of them acts bolshy towards one another and are mostly insufferable snobs. Add to that, there’s a ranking situation, which means someone who’s been there 2 or 3 years can just break your phone without reprisals. Oh, and they then take that phone, for all the use it has at that point.
Minerva Academy does rather feel like a whole ball of nothing, with a weird situation when older boys inspect the younger boys, leading to a very homoerotic situation. There’s a far better take on the gay side of the military in Netflix’s Boots, again very Full Metal Jacket, but far better structured.
Thanks to our friends at Netflix for the screener prior to release.
Minerva Academy is on Netflix from today.
It’s not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but when it is, it will be listed on the New DVD, Blu-ray, 3D and 4K releases UK page.
Check out the trailer below:
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 50 minutes per episode (8 episodes)
Release date: September 22nd 7th 2026
Studio: Netflix
Format: 2.00:1
Director: Ivan Silvestrini
Producer: Roberto Sessa
Writers: Ivano Fachin, Giovanni Galassi, Tommaso Matano, Michela Straniero
Music: Michele Braga
Cast:
Camilla: Margherita Buoncristiani
Padre Vincenzo: Andrea Giannini
Salvo: Ciro Minopoli
Leonardo: Zeno Luigi
Benny: Gaia Garavaglia
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.