The Holy Boy Review: Queer Horror Takes the Italian Mountains in a Ferocious Folk Tale
Venice Film Festival
Paolo Strippoli’s third feature film explores a seemingly idyllic village where the residents never feel any pain
Words by Alex Secilmis 17 September 2025
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Italian horror is back. For a few decades starting in the late 1950s, Italy’s contribution to the genre—from gothic chillers to gory gialli—was unrivalled. After it petered out in the 90s, the country’s cinema has since been defined by dramas and comedies, with Italo horror kept alive mostly by Anglo-American imitators (see The First Omen, In Fabric). But Paolo Strippoli’s new film is a call to arms to change that. With shades of Carrie and The Wicker Man, The Holy Boy (La Valle dei Sorrisi) is a sensitive, devastating folk horror treat that will break your heart right after getting it racing.
We meet Sergio (Michele Riondino) as he sobs uncontrollably during a picturesque drive to Remis. Escaping an unnamed trauma, he has accepted a temporary position as a high school P.E. teacher in the remote mountain village, which the locals dub “La Valle dei Sorrisi” (“The Valley of Smiles”). The town lives up to that name, and his neighbours’ cheerful demeanour confuses the unrelentingly glum Sergio, who spends his time drinking and rocking sunglasses to hide his teary eyes. But things become clearer when a concerned bartender named Michela (Romana Maggiora Vergano) brings him to a bizarre form of therapy: embracing a teenage boy in a chasuble. It turns out that Remis has a secret. If you hug Matteo Corbin (Giulio Feltri), he’ll take your pain away.
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Revitalised, Sergio starts an after-school judo club, grows closer to Michela, and even strikes up a friendship with Matteo. Unlike many other residents, he doesn’t worship Matteo as a saint, but sees him as a teenager in need of companionship. He even asks the question that nobody else does: when Matteo absorbs the pain, where does it all go?
With an icy atmosphere crafted by crisp cinematography and a forcefully eerie score, The Holy Boy is a moody, menacing film that rejects trite trauma metaphors in favour of an old-fashioned folk horror story. Par for that subgenre’s course, the film centres on a secretive remote community, but its great trick is that there are two outsiders. Sergio initially appears to be the sole protagonist, but the film’s beating, bruised heart is Matteo. Strippoli furtively shifts the focus to make him a co-lead, foregrounding an intriguing dynamic: the holy boy is idolised by the town’s adults, but he’s also an isolated gay 15-year-old, bullied by his crush (Diego Nardini) and exploited by his father (Paolo Pierobon). With Matteo, Strippoli has created one of the most messy, tender, and touching depictions of queerness in a horror film in recent memory. Crucially, the character’s sexuality isn’t commodified in service of the plot, but rather fuels the psychological drama and cleverly underpins the genre thrills.
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Newcomer Giulio Feltri is exceptional as the titular character. With Matteo treated as both a saint and a pariah, his harrowing portrayal of a lonely teenager is a highlight and the perfect counterpoint to Sergio, who is outcast by his grief instead. As the hardened, no-nonsense male hero, Michele Riondino invigorates the archetype with a layered performance that subtly emotes his repressed pain. Rounding out the cast, there’s solid, intense work from Romana Maggiora Vergano and Paolo Pierobon, the latter of whom is responsible for cinema’s best vape hits since Conclave.
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Emotionally-charged and unflinchingly grisly, The Holy Boy is a singular horror film that deftly balances character drama and explosive violence—revealing an exciting, confident voice in director Paolo Strippoli.