The Spiral
(L'Estranea)
They were the envy of everyone in Bari, Italy: The ideal couple, beautiful and successful, living in a tastefully appointed estate with an aspiring model and actress daughter and a soccer star son. That is, until a single tragedy leads to a Faustian bargain with a mysterious stranger, spiraling into a life of mounting catastrophe. Framed by a confession from matriarch Anna to her estranged daughter Alice, the latest twisted fable from The Holy Boy (2025 ChicagoIFF) director Paolo Strippoli chronicles the misfortunes befalling each member of this once-idyllic family and the high cost of maintaining a facade of perfection.
Visually striking and genuinely harrowing, The Spiral boasts a four-part narrative structure that elegantly balances a palpable sense of mounting dread with incisive social critique alongside masterfully chilling performances. This not-to-be-missed return from a Festival alum leaves audiences questioning their own notions of what it means to live well—and the many sacrifices that it requires.
