A trio of desperate criminals break into the isolated country house of an elderly goldsmith and his wife. But their chosen targets turn out to be far less defenseless than they seem.
Grimmfest Says: Building on a recent trend for home invasion movies in which things go badly wrong for the invaders (DON’T BREATHE, THE OWNER, etc) this smart, slippery, spit-vicious shocker takes the basic scenario of tables turned and predators preyed upon to ferocious new extremes. Starting out as a slick, stylish crime thriller, it slowly but inexorably escalates into full-on horror, as the bickering trio of housebreakers gradually realise the nature and extent of the trap into which they have placed themselves, and just how carefully, and for how long, their intended victim has been preparing for their arrival. Director-Writer Vincenzo Ricchiuto studied filmmaking with Abel Ferrara, no less, and the film has something of Ferrara’s chilly visual aesthetic and ear for an effective music cue, and is just as remorseless and unflinching in its gaze, just as ruthless in its storytelling; ratcheting up the tension with cold, cruel clockwork precision, as each new twist presents itself, constantly wrongfooting the viewer in terms of what is going on, and who to be rooting for, right until the final, horrifying reveal. Sharply played by a strong cast, headed by Italian Film Icon Stefania Casini (1900, SUSPIRIA, BELLY OF AN ARCHITECT, BLOOD FOR DRACULA), this is a truly fiendish piece of filmmaking. And the final shot is guaranteed to haunt you.