If too many teenage boys on screen have issues because they don’t get enough hugs when they’re younger, Matteo (Giulio Feltri) has the opposite problem in “The Holy Boy (La Valle dei Sorrisi),” becoming the most prized resident of the Italian village of Remis when an embrace from him means happiness. The town has prided itself on being known as “the valley of smiles,” and since he was born, he was known to have a special psychic gift, unburdening others of any thoughts they have and able to control their every move, a talent that was initially a curse when his mother was rendered catatonic while trying to feed him as a baby, but as the years have gone on becomes something he could use for good when he got more control over it. In Pablo Strippoli’s second feature, the most powerful member of the community is also the most vulnerable when the arrival of an outsider causes Matteo to reconsider his role in the village and who he is apart from his abilities, with the filmmaker adding enough new wrinkles to the coming-of-age story to make it worthwhile.
Matteo isn’t introduced as the lead of “The Holy Boy,” but he gradually takes center stage after Sergio (Michele Riondino), a new gym teacher at the local high school, is curious how everyone in Metis could be so happy, especially when it was the site of a tragic train accident. He’s clearly suffered a loss recently himself as he cries on his way on the drive in and is treated like a bit of a celebrity upon his arrival for being a former national Judo champion, though it’s the fact he is new to town that makes him stand out and upon staying a little too late one night at the area’s one watering hole, the bartender Michela (Romana Maggiora Vergano) can see his pain and decides to let him in on the secret that locals know about Matteo, a strange young man he’s seen at school who entertains himself by drawing on his hands when he has no friends to speak of. The fact that Matteo can give happiness appears to Sergio as if he can’t retain any for himself after their own transfer is done, and that raises the question of whether the boy’s father Mauro has been responsible in spreading the love that Matteo can offer while showing little of it to his son as he is making him available to others’ needs at every opportunity, depriving him of much of a childhood experience.
“The Holy Boy” involves genre elements when Matteo’s abilities are supernatural and people around town are prone to nightmares that require treatment from him, but it most effectively conveys horror in considering a parent’s fears in raising a prodigy when Mauro is thinking of the greater good rather than the needs of his own son and Sergio contends that the boy will be useless to everyone if he doesn’t have the time to grow into his own person, encouraging him to enjoy himself a little more. (This advice may not be ideal when for as great as his psychic powers are, Matteo has a limited idea of what fun is, resulting in an amusing sequence where he uses mind control to play practical jokes on people.) When there’s both a layer of grief lingering over the town and a seeming obligation to deliver a certain amount of scares, it can feel as if the film has a slight identity crisis of its own as Matteo works out his issues and the film would like to be taken a little more seriously than either its early dark humor or its eventual gross-out moments can entirely accommodate. However, while a little less might’ve resulted in a net benefit tonally, the amount of strong story strands in the film keep the film engaging and as much as it’s true of the characters, you can appreciate just how much “The Holy Boy” has on its mind.
“The Holy Boy” will screen again at the Venice Film Festival on September 5th at 9:30 pm at Sala Perla.