''The American Backyard'' () is a 2024 Italian

gothic horror Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean m ...

film written and directed by

Pupi Avati Giuseppe Avati, better known as Pupi Avati (born 3 November 1938), is an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known to horror film fans for his two '' giallo'' masterpieces, '' The House with Laughing Windows'' (1976) and '' ...

, based on his 2023 novel of the same name. It premiered at the

81st Venice International Film Festival The 81st annual Venice Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival was held from 28 August to 7 September 2024, at Venice Lido in Italy. French actress Isabelle Huppert served as Jury President for the main competition. Italian actress an ...

on 7 September 2024 as the festival's closing film.

Premise

In 1940s

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, a troubled young man falls in love with an American nurse, Barbara. The following year, he travels to the

American Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern c ...

and settles next door to Barbara's mother, who hasn't heard from her daughter since the end of the war, leading the man to embark on a tense search for her.

Cast

* Filippo Scotti as the young writer * Rita Tushingham as Flora, Barbara's mother * Armando De Ceccon as Glauco Zagotto * Roberto De Francesco as Emilio Zagotto *

Chiara Caselli Chiara Caselli (born 22 December 1967) is an Italian actress. In 1994, Caselli won the Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress award as well as the David di Donatello for Best Actress award. Caselli has appeared in American films including '' My Ow ...

as Doris * as the public prosecutor * Morena Gentile as Arianna *

Massimo Bonetti Massimo Bonetti (born 28 March 1951) is an Italian actor and director. Life and career Born in Rome, Bonetti after several years as character actor debuted in a leading role in 1981, in Aurelio Chiesa's ''Bim Bum Bam''. Then, he obtained role ...

as the presiding judge * Mildred Gustafsson as Barbara * Robert Madison as Major Capland * as a nurse * Patrizio Pelizzi as the

assizes The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...

court judge * Cesare Cremonini as Ugo Oste * Andrea Roncato as the

marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used fo ...

* Claudio Botosso as the legal expert * Alessia Fabiani as the innkeeper

Production

Regarding the macabre crimes in his film, Avati stated, "I didn't invent anything. These are stories that happened from the Monster of Florence to now. It's the least inventive and most realistic part. I'm more interested in the psychological and psychiatric part. Mine is a story of enormous and extreme loneliness. The protagonist is the loneliest man there is." Principal photography took place in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

, and

Forlì Forlì ( ; ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is, together with Cesena, the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena.The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the east of the Montone river, ...

, as well as

Davenport, Iowa Davenport ( ) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Davenport had a population of 101,724 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cen ...

, in the United States. Filming began in December 2023 and continued into 2024.

Release

A teaser trailer was released on 26 August 2024. The film closed the

on 7 September 2024.

Reception

Davide Abbatescianni of

Cineuropa Cineuropa is an online information portal dedicated to the promotion of European cinema. It publishes daily news, reviews, interviews, and industry reports and maintains a database of information. It is available in four languages: English, Fre ...

called the film "a truly over-the-top noir gothic thriller, unsettling and ridiculous". Emanuele Di Nicola of ''Cinematografo.it'' gave the film three-and-a-half out of five stars, calling it "an arcane and mysterious story, a tale of fear that is also a declaration of being". Alessia Pelonzi of ''Badtaste'' called the film "fascinating but unresolved". Paola Casella of '' Mymovies.it'' gave the film two-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote, "Avati is, as always, very skilled at creating suspended atmospheres, even if here he risks disorientation." On the other hand, A.S. Chianese of ''Nocturno'' gave the film four-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote, "''The American Backyard'' testifies to Avati's firm will to handle at all costs that refined film material that went to compose the American horror classics."

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:American Backyard, The 2020s Italian films 2020s Italian-language films 2020s mystery horror films 2020s supernatural horror films 2024 horror films 2024 films Films about death Serial killer films Films about writers Films based on Italian novels Films directed by Pupi Avati Films set in 1946 Films set in Bologna Films set in the Midwestern United States Films shot at Cinecittà Studios Films shot in Emilia-Romagna Films shot in Rome Films shot in Iowa Italian black-and-white films Italian historical horror films Italian mystery horror films Italian supernatural horror films Italian gothic horror films Rai Cinema films