80
Screen Daily by Wendy Ide
A rough-hewn fairytale unfolding against a fully realised world, this is an arresting feature debut for director Laura Samani.
Small Body (Piccolo corpo)
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- Italy,
- France,
- Slovenia
- 2022
- · 89m
Director
Laura Samani
Cast
Celeste Cescutti,
Ondina Quadri
Genre
Drama
Italy, 1900. Young Agata’s baby is stillborn and so, condemned to Limbo. Agata hears about a place in the mountains, where infants can be brought back to life for just one breath, to baptize them. She undertakes a voyage with her daughter’s small body hidden in a box and meets Lynx, a solitary boy who offers to help her. They set off on an adventure which will enable both to come close to a miracle that seems impossible.
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What are critics saying?
80
The Irish Times by Tara Brady
Celeste Cescutti leads a parochial cast that is largely unprofessional, with a fierce performance that bosses and grounds the film’s magic realist themes.
80
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
Samani’s film-making language has consistency and urgency, and there is an interesting streak of atheism that goes alongside this movie’s spiritual aura.
80
The Observer (UK) by Wendy Ide
With its colour palette of mossy greens, terracotta and earth tones, and its matter-of-fact approach to themes of folklore and mysticism, this gorgeous first feature from Italian director Laura Samani is as enchanting as it is unusual.
80
CineVue by John Bleasdale
It is a film about a personal grief which gradually, step by step, takes on a mythic resonance. This is a new and vibrant talent to be watched.
60
Little White Lies by Emily Maskell
It’s an accomplished directorial debut, focusing on the power of faith and the strength of motherhood to become symbiotic beasts fighting for dominance in its hero’s mind during her quest for autonomy.
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