Federico Zampaglione’s “The Well” is a ghastly lump of a disaster. There’s witchery, demonic ancient curses, and secrecy laced into the narrative, none of which remotely appear menacing. Instead, it all feels cartoonish, wildly exaggerated, and downright ridiculous. It’s impossible to take any of the spiraling horrors in the film seriously because the film just wings it. Zampaglione cobbles together scenes sans any suspense or dread. Dullness settles in early; once you snap out of the film, there’s no way to re-enter it.
Why is the horror so contrived when the film wholly piggybacks on it? There’s a stark absence of myriad, complicating layers and a mere excess of unidimensional characters rendered in the broadest strokes. Either the film amplifies malevolence or rolls out a flash of epiphany. Reveals and surprises are as convoluted as are the characters silly and unpersuasive. Zampaglione, who has co-written the film with Stefano Masi, crafts a bland, blunt movie, relying on the oldest tropes and tricks. The acting across the board amps up the decibel level of histrionics, and so does the sheer lack of well-rounded motivations.
The Well (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
Like every regular, pointlessly banal horror film, this film opens with the protagonist landing at a new place, where unsurprisingly terrible things await her. Lisa (Lauren LaVera) is a restorer. The movie starts with her reaching Sambuci in Italy on her latest work assignment. On the bus, she also meets a couple of other Americans going to Sambuci. It’s a trio of biologists who are planning to observe local fauna. On disembarking, Lisa and the group promise to meet up after a few days when work would have wrapped up. They head off to the forest to set up tents and Lisa proceeds to her hotel.
The following day, Lisa doesn’t find any bus available. A stranger accosts her, willingly guiding her to the mansion of the duchess where she’s supposed to go. He’s Marcus (Jonathan Dylan King), who works at a nearby pub. On her arrival at the Malvizi palace, no disconcerting elements pop up. The Duchess, Emma (Claudia Gerini), shows her the painting that Lisa is supposed to restore. A fire blackens out the painting. Lisa gets the job done in two weeks because Emma plans to sell it off at an upcoming auction. Delays will bring a heavy penalty on the studio of Lisa’s father. The father and daughter couldn’t afford it. This restoration is thus a significant catch for them.
Lisa stumbles across Emma’s daughter, Giulia (Linda Zampaglione). She is singing an eerie, weird song when Lisa accosts her. However, the girl scrambles away without a word. Emma explains to Lisa later that her daughter suffers from a severe personality disorder. Giulia doesn’t respond at dinner and runs away once again when Lisa harmlessly asks which grade she is in. Emma elaborates that due to Giulia’s personality disorder, she took her out of school.
Why does Lisa have unsettling visions and dreams?
In a parallel strand, we see horrid things happen swiftly with the group of American biologists. They get pulled out of their tents and caged in an isolated setting. Release becomes near impossible, as a hulking man barrels in every now and then kills and drops the body into the bottom of a well that is situated in the middle of the space. The Italian guide, Tony (Gianluigi Calvani), is the first to be plonked off. Quickly, the other captives also meet a sorry fate. Madison (Courage Oviawe) protests and gets targeted next. She is brutally butchered and hurled into the well, where a demonic figure Guron (Stefano Martinelli) feeds.
As she proceeds deeper into her restoration work, Lisa is struck with strange visions. The portrait that slowly reveals itself is a deeply disturbing one. It seems to be some sort of ritual. She has visions of the biologists all terribly mutilated and hurt. When Giulia first tells her not to complete the restoration, Lisa dismisses her. Giulia tells how the painting was made in the 15th century, which basically depicts a ritual where her mother attempts to get eternal youth by sacrificing people, and the monster Guron’s blood is vital.
Lisa is reluctant to buy into the story, tending to sideline it. Emma exhorts Lisa not to give any credence to these wild stories. She insists this is the reason Giulia doesn’t have friends. Marcus also suggests to Lisa that it could just be that she’s overwhelmed in a foreign country. She needs to take it easy, he adds, but she must continue her work. Lisa tries to abandon the work, but Emma threatens to stay and finish, waving the penalty and the possibility of severe consequences.
The Well (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
Is Guron killed?
It’s only when Giulia alludes to the biologists being sacrificed. Since she couldn’t have known their existence and her accounts match that of Lisa’s vivid nightmares of a demon and the mutilated people, she gets convinced. It’s the night of the red moon. As its light falls on the finished painting, Emma would bring back the curse and get eternal beauty.
Lisa is guided to the basement by Giulia, where she follows Guron to the place where the captives are holed up. Somehow, she rescues Tracy (Taylor Zaudtke). However, right as Lisa was escorting a hurt, limping Tracy out, Marcus arrives out of nowhere and shoots her dead. Horrified at no longer being able to repose trust in Marcus, Lisa staggers or is instead hauled to the room where the painting is kept.
The painting isn’t finished when the moon’s red glare falls on the women in the room, including Emma. They wither to dust, including Giulia, who’s revealed to be a much older woman. However, Giulia completes the painting and recites a chant off a parchment that’s on it. The final scene of the film leaps ahead thirty years. Giulia remains youthful but has become a powerful person. The Prime Minister has an appointment with her. She proceeds to the basement, patrolled heavily by guards, where we discover she has kept Guron all tied up. Like Emma, Lisa, too, now uses Guron’s blood for her agenda, mounting a thriving business that lures influential clients.
