Le Pacte has secured a North American distribution deal and a raft of international sales for Paolo Strippoli’s horror-thriller The Spiral, which premiered to strong reviews in Venice and later became Italy’s submission for the best international feature Oscar.
The North American deal includes a commitment to a U.S. theatrical release. The distributor’s identity will be announced at a later date, with Le Pacte saying that the agreement could be extended to additional territories.
Vertigo Releasing acquired the film for the U.K. and Ireland, MFA+ FilmDistribution took Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and La Aventura Cine picked up Spain. Other European buyers include Aurora Films for Poland, Pris Audiovisuais for Portugal, ABCinema for Greece, Independenta Film for Romania, MCF Megacom Film for the Balkans, Bestfilm.eu for the Baltics and Beta Film for Bulgaria.
Pancinema acquired South Korea, Palace Films took Australia and New Zealand, Bir Film picked up Turkey and VR Films acquired India and the SAARC region. California Filmes bought Latin America, while Russian Report took Russia and CIS territories.
Known in Italy as L’Estranea, the film stars Jasmine Trinca as a mother whose desire to protect her family draws her into a Faustian pact with a mysterious woman played by Bruni Tedeschi. Romana Maggiora Vergano and Adriano Giannini also star.
In his Venice review, THR chief film critic David Rooney called the film “juicy entertainment that ought to travel well,” praising its lead performances and Strippoli’s stylish direction.
The sales come after an extensive festival run that began with the film’s world premiere in competition at Venice, followed by a North American premiere in Toronto’s Midnight Madness section, where it was first runner-up for the People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award. At Sitges, Trinca won best actress and the film received the Silver Méliès for best fantastic genre feature. It also won Chicago’s Silver Hugo for best visual effects, with further festival stops including Fantastic Fest, Busan and Thessaloniki.
Le Pacte puts the film’s Italian box office at $3.8 million, with more than 460,000 admissions since its Oct. 8 release through 01 Distribution. The sales company is also handling French distribution, while Paradiso Filmed Entertainment is releasing it in Benelux.
Strippoli directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Salvatore De Chirico. The film is his fourth feature, following A Classic Horror Story (2021), Flowing (2022) and The Holy Boy (2025).
The Italian-French-Belgian production was produced by Marina Marzotto and Mattia Oddone for Propaganda Italia, in collaboration with Rai Cinema and with co-production partners Kazak Productions in France, Tarantula in Belgium and Dinamo Film in Italy.
