The Spiral: Italy's Dark Offering to the Oscars

The Spiral: A Haunting of the Soul

When the Italian film industry selects its representative for the Academy's International Feature Film category, we're not just watching a movie—we're witnessing a cultural negotiation. The latest entrant in this year's race is Paolo Strippoli's The Spiral, and it's a bold, bracingly ambitious choice.

"The Spiral" is a high-concept thriller with enough oomph to be considered a serious Oscar contender. The question is: how much of that energy is directed at the audience, versus the characters?

The premise alone—A demonic entity known as 'The Stranger' entices a young mother into a Faustian pact—seems like it could have been lifted from a late-night horror podcast. But what makes The Spiral compelling is how Strippoli treats it not as a genre exercise, but as a meditation on family trauma, choice, and the supernatural as a metaphor for internal darkness.

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi's Demonic Performance

The film centers around Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, who embodies The Stranger with an unsettling grace. This isn't just about possession—it's about seduction, manipulation, and the subtle ways that evil can manifest within familiar spaces. Her performance is a masterclass in understated menace; when The Stranger speaks, you feel the weight of every word.

Yet, for all its atmospheric power, the film struggles with character development. While Bruni Tedeschi commands attention, the protagonist Anna (played by Jasmine Trinca) remains frustratingly underexplored. We're meant to empathize with her journey through a fractured mother-daughter relationship, but without deeper emotional scaffolding, the stakes feel more like plot points than personal tragedies.

Italy's Oscar Gambit

The decision to submit The Spiral was made by a panel of experts from Italy's motion picture association ANICA. In many ways, it's a calculated move—this film is not only visually striking but also speaks to themes that resonate across cultures. It's the kind of film that can win over international audiences while remaining distinctly Italian.

But what strikes me about this submission is how it reflects Italy's current cinematic moment: a mix of historical reverence and modern horror sensibilities. Italy last took home an Oscar for Best International Feature in 2014, with The Great Beauty. Now, they're betting on something darker, more visceral, and perhaps more controversial.

Competition at Venice

The Spiral premiered at the Venice Film Festival earlier this year, where it competed alongside other strong contenders like Nanni Moretti's It Will Happen Tonight and Marco Bechis' Back to Buenos Aires. While all these films are worth watching, The Spiral stands out for its unique blend of folk horror and psychological thriller elements. It's not afraid to be unsettling.

That said, some critics have noted the film's pacing can feel uneven. There are moments where Strippoli leans too heavily on atmosphere at the expense of narrative cohesion. Still, the film earns points for its willingness to grapple with themes of sacrifice, family secrets, and moral compromise in a way that few recent international films dare to tackle head-on.

Why It Matters

As I watched The Spiral, I couldn't help but think about how much of what we consider "modern horror" is really just a reworking of ancient myths. The idea of a supernatural pact isn't new, but it's rarely handled with such psychological nuance.

Strippoli and his team have created something that feels both deeply rooted in European cinematic tradition and refreshingly contemporary. The film doesn't merely explore what happens when the veil between worlds grows thin—it interrogates how far we're willing to go for love, protection, or redemption.

This is not a film for everyone, but it's one that demands attention. And in a year where many of the Oscar races seem to be dominated by safe choices, The Spiral dares to be bold. That alone makes it worth watching—and voting for.

Looking Ahead: What Comes Next?

The shortlist for the 2027 Academy Awards nominations will be announced on December 15, with the final winners revealed on January 21. If The Spiral makes it through to the final ballot, it could shake up expectations in a major way.

With Italy's track record at the Oscars—and the growing appetite for genre films that are both artistic and commercially viable—The Spiral might just be the dark horse we didn't see coming. If nothing else, this submission signals that Italian cinema is not content to rest on its laurels; it's actively seeking new ways to scare, challenge, and inspire.

Whether or not the Academy picks up on it remains to be seen, but I, for one, am already planning a rewatch of this one. It's haunting, beautiful, and yes—The Spiral is exactly the kind of film that makes me fall in love with cinema again.