Flowing

In the midst of strange outbreaks, a father-and-son team of sewer cleaners discovers the phenomenon that rainfall activates a mysterious fog from the city sewers and causes those to inhale it to act out their darkest impulses and become concerned when his family becomes a part of the occurrences.

There was quite a lot to like here. Among the better features in play here is the series of impressive storylines at play here that come together into a fun setup. The initial family tragedy involving the father trying to keep his family together after what happened with his wife, the outbursts of his son who's becoming a reckless troublemaker doing anything he wants with no semblance of authority reigning him in, and a daughter trying to come to terms with the accident due to her now-handicapped condition, comes together quite well in generating a solid baseline of storylines to get this one going. When added together with the setup about the strange fog from the sewers as the potential culprit not just behind his actions but several other scenarios around the city give this a lot to like. That allows the film to hit quite hard in the second half when the build-up about his son's antics has reached a fever point and his life spirals out of control. As the initial theory about the poison gas from the sewers starts to emerge and the action around the city grows in response, the frantic outbursts of violence here become increasingly more graphic and brutal with the discovery of their neighbors and the son's encounter with the maniacal security he had previously tormented setting the stage for this one quite nicely. That all manages to bring the hard-hitting finale into a fantastic brawl with the storyline points getting utilized rather well and the pay-offs for several of the established storylines get brought out resulting in some brutal action and gore to go along with everything here to have a lot to like. This one does have some pretty big drawbacks to it. The main detriment here is the outright bland pacing that goes on for so much of the film dealing with the dramatic tension within its storylines rather than doling out genre shocks. The setup of the strange fog in the sewers making everyone go crazy is explored in brief momenta and seems to be elements that exist around the central drama of the family falling apart rather than heightening the situation using those elements. Half the time, the drama doesn't even feel earned due to an utterly moronic situation-making influenced by the fog that should've clued someone in that they're acting off but doesn't have the same impact since the unaffected should still be able to tell. This all means the first half a bit sluggish to get going. The other issue here is that the fog itself doesn't really serve up much in the way of explanations for what's going on. The act itself is serviceable and threatening but the idea of taking such a common-use occurrence like fog emerging from the sewers to be the catalyst for everything out of the blue like it is without any reason or enhancement strikes as lazy. Without offering the why and how of it happening now, even in the context of a brief bit about exploring long-buried sections of the city in the background of something to plant the idea of it always being there but has just now found a way to impact the population would've worked. As it stands, it just looks like a rather weak metaphor for teenage rebellion against his father or loneliness for his wife which is underwhelming enough and lowers this overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, Full Nudity, and children-in-jeopardy.

"Flowing" helps my aversion to Italian horror ease off, as it kept my interest throughout and offered really good production value. But where it has a problem exists in its numerous and deep plot holes.

Over the opening credits, we see Roman citizens being executed. Cut to modern day and sewer problems in Rome. Something gross in addition to what you normally find in a sewer is down there and is causing a mysterious mist to come out of people's pipes. There are also news stories in the background of a sudden increase in violent attacks. Fabrizio Rongioni plays the father of a little girl in a wheelchair and a troubled teenage boy. He is working several jobs and is just trying to maintain.

Violence and death occurs to those who breathe in the mist-which is most everyone because instead of avoiding a white mist suddenly coming from their sinks and bathtubs, these people instead just like taking a big whiff. The family drama is intertwined and people are dying in an orgy of murder all over the city.

The acting-especially by Rongioni-was good and production values were also good. Gore effects were a little cheap looking but effective. But those aforementioned plot holes just kept me confused. What was the introduction about? Was this the beginning of the "infection," or what? I couldn't keep track of the father's jobs. I couldn't figure out who some of the other people he was around were. I didn't understand why this "infection" existed. Why is it suddenly being released? Is it only a metaphor regarding the family dynamics? Is the ending the end? Just so many things that either took too long to eventually find out or were never explained really effected what could have been a better film. It's still pretty good, but definitely has the potential to be better.

As an Italian I am always happy when a made in Italy horror is good and appreciated. I really liked the classic horror story that Strippoli had directed together with De Feo, this time Strippoli directs a good horror solo that reflects a lot the times of madness and urban violence that we are experiencing from the pandemic onwards.

The staging is good, the first part perhaps a little too slow, but then it meshes and becomes a tour de force of ferocity and violence, without revealing too much I can say that this film is not a masterpiece, but it certainly stands out. And deserves the view.

Special mention for Cristiana Dell'Anna (Patrizia in the masterpiece TV series Gomorra) who is not seen in many scenes in this film, but when she does see herself she offers a truly excellent performance.

In the past few days Rome has been the scene of a singular event: when it rains, the manholes exhale a dense steam whose origin and composition is unknown. No one can imagine that whoever breathes in the mysterious substance will have to deal with what he/she represses, their darkest instincts, their anger. Not even the Morel family.

8.5/10

Last one from Sitges. Flowing moved me more than scaring me (even though it did a couple of times) and it felt good. This is a film about family trauma and it gets darker and bloodier by the minute, but what really makes it worth watching is the fact that it tries to reach a someway brighter place. Idk about you, these days I need a little hope. Thumbs up!