One of these is the tumultuous friendship between Elio (Chalamet) and his childhood friend Marzia, played by French up and comer Esther Garrel. As a woman, watching her fall in love with the boy she's known her whole life — only to be pushed aside for Oliver (Hammer) — felt like a replay of some of my own failed teenage love stories. In the 2007 book by Andre Aciman on which the film is based on , Marzia plays a more limited role. Movie Marzia is Elio's anchor, in a way. She's there at the beginning when he meets Oliver for the first time, and she's there at the end when Elio returns to the house, distraught that his lover has gone. But it's also a testament to Garrel's acting, and director Luca Guadagnino's vision, that Marzia doesn't come off as a flat, tangential character.