What do you get when you combine The Monkey’s Paw and the twisted spiritual trickery of Aunt Gladys from Weapons? The intense psychological fable The Spiral directed by Paolo Strippoli is what you get. Following its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, attendees at TIFF have themselves a delightfully demented treat with The Spiral, courtesy of director Paolo Strippoli.
Told in four chapters on a stormy day in the wonderful city of Rome, Anna (Jasmine Trinca) unexpectedly arrives to visit her daughter Alice (Romana Maggiora). Caught off guard by her sudden arrival, Alice is taken aback when her mother announces she must confess to a lie that has been the foundation of their lives since Alice was young. As the storm gets worse and Anna continues to disclose more layers of the supposed confession, Alice and Anna’s relationship is tested by revelations seemingly caused by the stranger (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi).
Paolo Strippoli presents a unique take on the classic tale of The Monkey’s Paw while also connecting core family dynamics with sacrifice. How far will a mother go to protect the ones she loves? How can Anna manage to keep both children alive and striving through life? Strippoli poses this question as each chapter passes, making Anna spiral further and further into madness. Just as Anna thinks her life is finally back on track, she is hit with a new choice to make.
The execution of how more intense the film gets as the story unravels like a spiral is done well by Strippoli. The opening of the flashbacks uses bright lighting to symbolize the normal life of the family. The use of bright blues and greens used in the outfits worn and exterior shots help showcase the perfect family life. There’s a calming look to these shades strongly felt by the viewer before things slowly shift. Continuing the film’s usage of lighting as each time passes, we are then drawn more into the usage of eerie lighting to enhance the dreary atmospheric tone, which plays well into the present day with the storm. When we get to the dark loneliness of the hospital, the blues and greens are saturated out by the dim lighting. The intensity of the thunder and rain at Alice’s apartment gets worse as each chapter in their family history reveals itself to be darker and more morbid than before.
There’s this eerie feeling whenever Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s Stranger appears to make an offer to Anna. What makes this work is not only Valeria’s acting but the innocence of her look. Instead of the unnerving look like the old hag disguise The Evil Queen from Snow White conjures up to trick Snow White, she looks like anyone’s grandmother. The introduction of her establishes how looks can be deceiving. A seemingly innocent person with a sinister plan, toying with Anna’s emotions and fears for her children. As the film continues to unravel, I couldn’t help but fear what else would happen next. The Stranger’s twist of words leaves audiences dreading to know what grim fate the family will have by the time the credits roll.
The Spiral delivers an excellent psychological thriller from director Paolo Strippoli, taking a unique and sinister twist from the story of The Monkey’s Paw and turning it into a new, modern Italian fable. If you are looking for a film filled with jumpscares, I’m sorry to disappoint but this is not the film for you. If you are a fan of more psychological horrors and anxieties though, The Spiral is definitely not one to miss.
Watch the trailer here.
All images via Le Pacte.
Directed by Paolo Strippoli
Screenplay by Paolo Strippoli, Salvatore De Chirico
Produced by Marina Marzotto, Mattia Oddone
Starring Jasmine Trinca, Romana Maggiora, Adriano Giannini, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
Premiere Date: September 7, 2026 (Venice)
Running Time: 115 minutes
Other Writers Say…
Jaime Rebanal
Feels like a peculiar programming choice in this year’s Midnight Madness lineup only because it’s not nearly as flashy about its genre elements compared to most films I see in the programme. Still, it’s something that I admire at least for the audacity to torture its bourgeois protagonist as much as possible, by driving out horror from the need to maintain the “perfect” family image. So the shame being externalized in the increasingly tragic forms we’re witnessing here only makes for something more unnerving. This premise of making a deal with the devil is about as familiar as they get, but Strippoli nails down a specificity speaking towards Italians that allows it to resonate beautifully.
Wonder if this would have made the lineup if this didn’t come out in a year where FIFA was just about everywhere. I’m always in for how much Strippoli can make this feel so nasty, especially when he’s playing up the elements of body horror where you least expect it. Though when you understand how high up the stakes get with each chapter, you only sense that its narrative structure comes full circle in the best way. A total blast.
Leave a comment