The Well (2024)
An Italian Horror Renaissance?
The Well is the third horror movie I’ve reviewed this year about a young American woman who encounters evil supernatural forces while traveling alone in Italy. No, this isn’t another demonic baby nun movie. It’s only superficially similar to Immaculate and The First Omen. Instead, it’s about a cursed painting and a murderous supernatural conspiracy.
Lisa Gray (Lauren Lavera) is a professional art restorer. After being hired by Italian duchess Emma Malvizi (Claudia Gerini), she travels to Italy to restore a severely damaged medieval 15th century painting. Along the way, she encounters other Americans: biologists Tracy (Taylor Zaudtke) and Madison (Courage Oviawe), and their Italian guide Tony (Gianluigi Calvani).
She also meets Emma’s moody, eccentric teen daughter Giulia (Linda Zampaglione) who makes oblique warnings that Lisa initially disbelieves. As she restores the painting, Lisa uncovers a terrifying demonic image.
She begins to have vivid nightmares that foretell a dark fate. This part of the movie was a bit overdone. I’ve never enjoyed the “it was all a dream” trope and this movie has too many scenes like this. You can only trick the audience so many times before we start just disbelieving everything on screen.
Meanwhile, the biologists and their guide are menaced by a grunting, portly sadist who enjoys hacking people and then tossing them into a well. Unfortunately, an even worse monster awaits these still-living victims underground. Lisa eventually uncovers a connection between the eerie painting and these attacks.
beauty and terror
The Well‘s stunning cinematography is impressive. Director Federico Zampaglione seems inspired by the works of giallo directors like Dario Argento. Like Immaculate, The Well takes inspiration from the giallo genre. It’s just as gory as giallo films as well. Italian horror is known for mixing beauty and terror, and we get plenty of both here. I was actually surprised by the level of brutality in this movie. It starts slow, but gets exceptionally violent.
Lauren Lavera is the star. In 2022, Lavera went from unknown to slasher royalty after starring as Sienna in Terrifier 2. She is returning to that role in the upcoming third installment. But what is it that makes her so compelling? It’s not just her good looks. Pretty actresses are a dime a dozen in the film industry. I think what sets her apart is the tenacity and genuineness that she brings to her roles. Lisa isn’t as likeable or compelling as Sienna, but Lavera still makes her easy to root for.
Zampaglione also deserves a shoutout for her performance as a troubled youngster who is harboring dark secrets. She has great chemistry with Lavera. Their scenes together are among the movie’s best. Zaudtke, Oviawe, and Calvani are good as well, but their characters are just body count fodder. They’re simply here to scream, suffer, and eventually die.
The movie ends with a gory battle and a couple of major plot twists. Honestly, many of the plot elements didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. I won’t get into specifics to avoid spoiling major plot details, but The Well is the type of movie that emphasizes style and atmosphere over logic.
Rating
Despite its flaws, The Well is a worthy addition to the 2024 Italian horror resurgence. The concept of a cursed painting is relatively original and could be explored further. The ending seems to leave the door open for a sequel. It will be interesting to see if this unheralded movie (which was recently released on streaming services with little fanfare) can become a plucky sleeper hit.
Rating from 1 (avoid at all costs) to 10 (masterpiece): 7
