Paolo Strippoli’s The Spiral (FANTASTIC) Takes Viewers on a Dizzying Journey Through Bad Choices in a Crumbling Family
Title: The Spiral
First Non-Festival Release: October 8, 2026 (Theatrical Release)
Director: Paolo Strippoli
Writer: Salvatore de Chirico, Paolo Strippoli
Runtime: 115 Minutes
Starring: Jasmine Trinca, Adriano Giannini, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Andrea Genovese
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 2026.
Parents are trusted with one of the most important and difficult jobs in the world: raising their children. Every choice they make has the power to significantly alter the course of their child’s life and these choices often lay the groundwork for whatever issues they must navigate as adults. The pressure is immense and many parents rise to the occasion, even if they are not perfect. Others, whether intentional or not, make decisions that severely harm their children.
Anna (Jasmine Trinca) finds herself struggling to make the right decisions as a parent. Her loving marriage to Walter (Adriano Giannini) is made sweeter with her bright, loving children Alice (Romana Maggiora Vergano, Gabriella Telegrafo, Mariandrea Cesari) and Tobia (Andrea Genovese, Alessandro Carbonara, Andrea Rossini). When Alice suffers a terrible accident, Anna finds herself in the chapel of a hospital. Amidst her cries to heal her daughter, a stranger (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) appears, promising full recuperation if Anna makes a simple trade. When Anna agrees, she inadvertently sets off a chain of events that will leave her and her family forever changed. Years later, Anna shows up at Alice’s door with a wild story and a plea to right the wrongs that Anna made long ago.
Knockout Italian horror director Paolo Strippoli delivers yet another sick family drama in The Spiral that offers as much insight as it does gloriously gut-punching horror.
Told in four chapters, The Spiral pinpoints the worst parts of this family’s lives and warns of the dangers of prioritizing peace and appearance over all. Anna is as sympathetic as a socialite can be. She clearly adores her family and wants what is best, even if her attention is focused on her ability to live vicariously through Alice’s blossoming acting career and the social clout that follows. It’s her own vanity and fear that sets the story in motion. When she trades her son’s weight and athleticism for her daughter’s leg after she is viciously mauled by the family dog, the deal offered by the stranger seems like a silly manifestation more than an actual decision. When the effects don’t set in instantly, she handwaves the oddity away. It’s only when Tobia begins gaining weight that she realizes the gravity of what she has done.
It’s in this brilliant character study that The Spiral gets juicy. Every decision Anna makes from there feels important and potentially life-ending for her family. A snowplow parent to her core, Anna cannot comprehend how her inability to let things lie leads to further suffering in her family. Inspiring as much ire as she does sympathy, it’s easy to understand where Anna is coming from here. The supernatural implications of her deal lead her down a guilt-ridden road that destroys her world from within. Her constant fixing might seem irritating on the surface but it’s the secrets she harbors that make the choices so dire.
Unaware of her meddling, the family treats her efforts with various shades of appreciation and contempt, depending on when employed. The Spiral makes each moment painful for the family, even if it is admittedly light on actual manifestations of horror. Bitter, cutting dialogue and heartbreaking loss mark the family from the day Alice is cured. It’s heavy and hard to watch, especially if one has a complicated family dynamic or has suffered through any of the ordeals that the family endures. Still, there’s humor throughout The Spiral that furthers the irony of Anna’s actions and the inevitability of her final destination. It peaks through in the most uncomfortable times but that has become Strippoli’s signature incursive, bad taste [complimentary] when it comes to extraordinary discomfort.
The heightened family drama works because of the strong performances and character development afforded to the family. Each part focuses on the destruction of one family member before shifting to the next. The episodic nature of the film is revealing as each segment shortens the further the story takes Anna. The Spiral takes on its own story shape quite literally. Deliberate pacing and realistic choices elevate the horror and drama to great heights, as the stakes continue to raise. Writers Salvatore de Chirico and Strippoli do great work making the body and psychological horror grounded despite the supernatural twist.
Strong performances bring credence to the slowly deteriorating family’s reaction to grief. The younger versions of Alice and Tobia work as blank slates for the horror that will gradually take over, and their teenage selves disturbingly show their scars quite well. Adriano Giannini does great work as the exasperated father fighting to do all he can to provide for his family. None quite reach the heights that Jasmine Trinca does. Trinca’s performance balances the heartbreak and horror with aplomb, never over-indulging in the flurry of emotions swirling in her head but always present in a simple glance or micro expression. Valeria Bruni Tedeschi works as an incredible villain despite her surprisingly small inclusion in the narrative.
Another absolute banger of a horror drama, Strippoli has cemented his status as a modern-day horror icon. His previous efforts, Flowing and The Holy Boy, explore the same messed up family dynamics that clearly interest him, but The Spiral takes things in a much more grounded direction leading to some interesting revelations. Captivating storytelling, brilliant direction, and stellar performances make this Italian gem a must-watch for horror fans and cinema goers alike. Described by many as a Faustian trip to Hell, The Spiral is realistic supernatural horror done right.
Overall Score? 8/10
