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‘Ferine’ Review: Motherhood Begets Beastliness in Andrea Corsini’s Upscale Horror
Andrea Corsini’s debut feature “Ferine” is an English-language horror film about Irina, a wealthy woman in Italy whose repeated miscarriages and desperate pursuit of motherhood lead to increasingly disturbing behaviour. The review finds it initially more invested in lofty style and artistic pretension than narrative clarity, but says it ultimately develops enough strange, violent energy to appeal to viewers seeking a more refined form of genre cinema.
After a surrogate mother refuses to surrender her newborn, Irina takes the baby from a private hospital, only for a crash involving an escaped wild animal to leave the child dead and Irina traumatised. She then begins exhibiting a predatory, carnivorous streak, seemingly linked to the animal, while attempts to replace the lost child create further complications. Carolyn Bracken leads the cast, and the film expands Corsini’s 2019 short of the same name after premiering internationally at Fantasia.
In short
- Stylish horror explores grief, maternity and feral transformation.
- Carolyn Bracken plays a traumatised would-be mother.
- The review calls it pretentious but increasingly compelling.
Explained simply
"Ferine" is a horror film that marks director Andrea Corsini's feature film debut, following Irina, a wealthy woman in Italy whose desperate desire to become a mother leads to increasingly disturbing behaviour. When a surrogate mother refuses to hand over a newborn, Irina takes the baby from a private hospital, but a crash involving a wild animal kills the child and leaves Irina severely traumatised.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Irina begins exhibiting strange predatory and carnivorous behaviour that appears linked to the wild animal from the crash. Whilst attempting to replace the lost child, she engages in increasingly violent and disturbing acts.
The film stars actress Carolyn Bracken in the lead role and expands a short film of the same name that Corsini directed in 2019. It has premiered at the Fantasia film festival.
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