Find Salvation in Supernatural Horror Again with Shudder’s Latest Acquisition: The Holy Boy (FANTASTIC)
Title: The Holy Boy
First Non-Festival Release: September 17, 2025 (Theatrical Release)
Director: Paolo Strippoli
Writer: Jacopo Del Giudice, Paolo Strippoli, Milo Tissone
Runtime: 122 Minutes
Starring: Michele Riondino, Giulio Feltri, Romana Maggiora Vergano
Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here
This film’s review was written after its screening at the Fantastic Film Festival in 2025.
We often forget what pain teaches us because of how much we focus on the internal strife it causes. As such a central component of our lives, unaware or not, pain can be valuable. Catharsis, closure, and connection, among other things, are just a few positive benefits pain can provide on the psychological level. It’s tempting to think what would it be like to take it all away.
Lost and reeling from the pain of losing his son, a former Judo fighter Sergio (Michele Riondino) accepts a job as a substitute gym teacher in a remote mountain town where tragedy struck over a decade ago. There, he finds the townspeople oddly happy, which confuses him at first. After an outburst at a local bar, he is sent to see one of his students, Matteo (Giulio Feltri), a 15-year-old boy whose touch eases all pain in those who hug him.
A fascinating and affecting examination of the utility of pain, The Holy Boy is a striking and deeply unsettling experience.
Deliberate pacing and a compelling central mystery allow the story to unfold in strange and powerful ways. Introducing the audience to Sergio, it’s easy to see how he has let himself go. Broken, bitter, and determined to let his attitude infect the joy of others, he approaches the substitute teacher opportunity with skepticism and disdain, all while harboring his own demons. It’s this obvious ache that puts him in the bizarre situation of hugging one of his students in a strange ceremony with the townsfolk. From there, the mystery only deepens dropping more clues about the time bomb slowly but surely chattering away in the village center. These twists serve less to shock and more to mine the religious fervor that fuels the strange customs.
Religion and spirituality often bring comfort in the throes of pain. The idea that it can be fully erased, however, is one that exists only in our most ardent wishes. Intoxicated by the idea that any and every moment of discomfort can be magically waved away by Matteo, the townsfolk gradually whittle their resilience down to nothing. When Matteo starts pushing back on being the town’s one-stop shop for absolution, it kickstarts more problems. Their inability to self-soothe leads to desperation that places the few outside of Matteo’s control in danger. The best way to deal with pain isn’t pretending it doesn’t exist. It’s standing in solidarity with your community when things get tough, for both their benefit and your own. Without the basic skills of coping with life’s lows, The Holy Boy argues that pain is the locomotive that keeps life moving after tragedy.
The queer element to The Holy Boy isn’t a one-to-one allegory but offers enough meat to chew on to pair well with its spiritual components. Matteo’s hidden but ever-present queerness hangs over his head, and that of the religion he serves, fueling the eventual catastrophic end of the story. Instead of receiving hate or derision from those around him for his difference, Matteo is celebrated. But they don’t know him fully. Or his powers. Much like the idea behind The Best Little Boy in the World Hypothesis, Matteo is forced to perform flawlessly in his societal role as a healer at the expense of his own agency. As he wrestles with his place in society and is encouraged by the one adult who pushes him to put himself first sometimes, Matteo struggles to control his power and not give into temptations to use them nefariously. In the end, everyone loses when denying queer people autonomy.
Visually striking, writer/director Paolo Strippoli understands how to effectively unsettle in his signature way. Strippoli’s approach to horror is steeped in misdirection and provocation. Lots of initially unassuming shots slowly betray a much darker picture of what is happening in the town. Bodies burn, bend, and barrel through time with ferocity and precision, contorting themselves into whatever vision Matteo conjures. These unsettling moments may propel the narrative to tragedy but it’s hard not to marvel at the ingenuity, and surprisingly, the beauty behind the movements.
Melancholic, meditative, and mesmerizing, The Holy Boy is a dense supernatural horror film that asks powerful questions on suffering. Faith-based horror with a truly wild plot and bold social commentary, The Holy Boy is another win for Italian writer/director Paolo Strippoli, especially after his wonderfully affecting freshman debut Flowing. A beautiful yet often painful watch, the horror of The Holy Boy is more existential than visceral but no less powerful. Embrace pain and look out for The Holy Boy to drop on Shudder next year.
Overall Score? 8/10
