DEEP IN THE WOOD

Incubusses are dancing through the dark night, rattling their chains, frightening children. Fire illuminates the darkness of a small village in the Dolomites. Little Tommi is scared and flees. He runs into the woods, through the trees and on and on until he spots a cabin in a glade. Through the windows warm light is shining into the cold. Tommi walks towards it – and disappears. Five years later construction workers find an dishevelled child. The DNA-test proves it’s Tommi. His parents are overwhelmed with joy – for the moment. But soon his mother Linda is plagued by doubts – The child smells differently from her son and the family dog doesn’t recognize him. Is the child, who came out of the woods, the same who went in? “Deep in the Wood” is like a feverish dream scraped out of an empirical Alpine world, in which folklore, legend and reality quickly become blurred. At last a strong sign of life of the Italian fantasy film scene. Director Stefano Ludovichi paints his mystery thriller in rich colors with music played by the lower strings, and peoples the village with characters that have seemingly grown out of the surroundings. Every one of them seems to keep his secrets closely, things you’d better not talk about, experiences, confessed – if at all – to a priest. “Deep in the Wood” is one of this year’s great discoveries.