Roberto De Feo is fresh from a Locarno bow with his debut feature The Nest, presented in the Crazy Midnight slot of the Piazza Grande section. It’s the appropriate setting for this nocturnal, fairly self-aware horror movie which knowingly toys with some of the genre’s established tropes – chiefly among them, the old house in the middle of nowhere and a secluded community inhabiting it. It’s notable for its roots in the Italian tradition of horror, which has surprisingly faded in the course of the last few decades, but has given some signs of new life recently.
In The Nest, a boy grows up in an isolated mansion surrounded by his mother and extended family. His father died in the car accident that left the boy disabled. The atmosphere around him is of extreme protection, if not outright oppression, and it takes the arrival of a new girl to push him towards the outside world.
I met with the Italian filmmaker on a sunny Locarno Terrace to discuss international ambitions, the inspiration behind The Nest and the possible reasons why it’s so difficult to make genre cinema in Italy.
A freelance film critic and programmer, Tommaso Tocci is based between Paris and Rome. He covers the European festival circuit and he's a member of FIPRESCI and the International Cinephile Society. His Top 3 for 2021: After Blue (Bertrand Mandico), Titane (Julia Ducournau), What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? (Alexandre Koberidze).
