 | MOVIE DETAILS • Name: The Binding (aka Il legame) • Year: 2020 • Country: Italy • Director: Domenico Emanuele de Feudis • Main cast: Riccardo Scamarcio, Mía Maestro, Giulia Patrignani • Runtime: 93 minutes • Production company: HT Film, Indigo Film, Lebowski • TRAILER
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The Binding (aka Il legame) (2020) is an Italian supernatural horror movie that has been internationally released by Netflix early this October. And, what one could expect after reading the plot and watching the trailer, pretty much comes to a fact once you’ve been through the whole movie running time. The sensation of having already seen all those images, knowing that plot, and having heard most of the conversations is there. Because, overall, The Binding (2020)’s strength is not originality.
But does the movie have any strength? Well, the cinematography, the sets, and the lights work were quite enjoyable, making the film at least a pretty one to watch. The acting was also efficient enough, especially outstanding the work of little Giulia Patrignani, debuting in a feature film and displaying all sorts of horrifying sounds and faces. By far, her performance is the thing I will keep as the most positive from the watching.
The Binding (2020) is the debut feature film as a director of the experience second unit or assistant director Domenico Emanuele de Feudis. That is easy to see, as in a technical aspect the movie is quite well done, but as a story, it is boring and slow. Even the most climactic moments don’t flow as they should, so one keeps having the feeling of nothing going on while staring at the screen. And the story written by the director himself together with his frequent collaborator Daniele Cosci is not helping much.
He is in his early 40s and is visiting his mother in a remote big house in South Italy. Yes, a very pretty house in a very amazing environment, I give that. With him comes his long-time girlfriend and her daughter. An apparently perfect, successful, and happy family. Until the man’s past comes back. The spiritual and supernatural is always floating around that big house, with a very old-fashioned and recluded mother that always seems to be hiding some terrible secrets. The kind of creepy and wicked environment we have seen many times, right? Well, the plot evolves and some not-so-surprising twists happen, but it won’t matter much. In a moment I thought the movie would turn into something a little more epic and macabre, some kind of a huge set-up in the style of Roman Polanski’s masterpiece of horror Rosemary’s Baby (1968), but that hope fades away fast.
Don’t get me wrong, The Binding (2020) is not a bad movie. And there are one or two instants where it can get exciting, at least for a moment. But, overall, it is something we have already seen many times before. If you are a fan of haunted mysteries and witchcraft stories maybe you can enjoy it a little more than I did. But don’t expect a movie to remember, because that would only disappoint you.
RATE: 4/10
IMDB URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt10914452
