It’s not generally a good sign when explanatory title cards at the start and end of a movie give you vital information missing from the movie itself. But that’s what happens with Fuori, a serviceable account of Italian writer Goliarda Sapienza’s years as both a prisoner and ex-con, during which she forged relationships with inmates that inspired some of her best literature. Directed efficiently if too tamely by Mario Martone (Nostalgia), and starring Cannes regular Valeria Golino (Rain Man), the film should find an audience in places where Sapienza’s books are popular, mainly Italy and France.

The author became famous in her homeland after her novel, The Art of Joy, was published in 1998. It was a critical and commercial success that turned Sapienza, who had died two years earlier, into a major voice in Italian literature. She had led a fascinating life before that, growing up in Sicily with socialist-anarchist parents,...