Paolo Strippoli, who is Italy’s hottest young helmer of genre movies, is back at Venice Film Festival with “The Spiral.” The high-concept thriller stars Valeria Bruni Tedeschi as a demonic character called The Stranger, who entices a young mother played by Jasmine Trinca into forging a Faustian pact.
“The Spiral” centers on a mother-daughter relationship that spirals out of control following a shocking revelation. At the film’s start, a woman named Anna suddenly shows up at her daughter’s Alice’s house during a thunderstorm saying she wants to tell her a dark truth about their family. She claims to have made a pact with The Stranger to save Alice’s leg after an accident 20 years earlier. That pact “has triggered a domino effect causing terrible events over the years. Only Alice can help to put everything right. But at what price?” the synopsis says.
Besides Tedeschi and Trinca, “The Spiral” cast also comprises Romana Maggiora Vergano (“There’s Still Tomorrow”) and Adriano Giannini (“Supersex”). The film was lead produced by Rome-based Propaganda in tandem with France’s Kazak Productions.
Strippoli made his directorial debut in 2021 with “A Classic Horror Story,” a hit Netflix Original film he co-directed with Roberto De Feo. In 2022, he helmed his second feature, the psychological horror “Piove.” And in 2025, Strippoli’s third movie, “The Holy Boy” launched from Venice.
