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Synopsis
Alone in Venice (2025) is a haunting psychological thriller directed by Nia DaCosta (known for Candyman and Little Woods) that combines elements of mystery, emotional unraveling, and atmospheric tension. Set against the stunning but eerie backdrop of Venice, Italy, the film delves deep into themes of isolation, grief, and the fragile boundary between reality and illusion.
Plot Synopsis:
The story follows Isabelle (played by Emma Mackey), a talented but reclusive artist from London, who arrives in Venice for a much-needed break after a personal tragedy. Isabelle has recently lost her fiancé, Marcello, in a car accident that has left her emotionally fractured and questioning her place in the world. Struggling with grief and a sense of disconnection from life, Isabelle decides to visit Venice, hoping the city’s beauty and history will provide her with the solitude she craves.
She rents a small, charming apartment in the Cannaregio district, a quiet area far from the tourist-filled streets of Piazza San Marco. Venice’s labyrinthine canals, narrow alleyways, and fog-draped mornings are portrayed with a dreamlike quality, contributing to the film’s eerie and almost surreal atmosphere. Isabelle’s intention is to work on her art—sketching the scenery, focusing on the architecture, and perhaps, creating a new chapter in her life. But Venice, with its history of haunting beauty and supernatural rumors, will not let her escape the emotional ghosts of her past so easily.
On her second day in Venice, Isabelle encounters Alessandro (played by Riz Ahmed), an enigmatic local who works as a tour guide and historian. They strike up a casual acquaintance that soon turns into a deeper connection. Alessandro, charming yet somewhat secretive, becomes Isabelle’s guide to the city’s hidden corners, offering her insight into Venice’s rich and dark history, including tales of its many famous disappearances and tragic events. He encourages her to explore the city’s lesser-known sites and draws her attention to the beauty and mystery of the forgotten places—hidden gardens, abandoned palaces, and old churches long since closed to the public.
However, Isabelle begins to feel a growing unease. She starts having strange dreams about Marcello, often in vivid detail. These dreams seem to bleed into her waking life, as if her fiancé is somehow still present in Venice, pulling her towards something she can’t quite understand. She begins to notice eerie coincidences: a shadowy figure standing at a distance, a man who looks strikingly like Marcello, and letters addressed to her that seem to come from the deceased. Slowly, she becomes obsessed with the idea that Marcello’s death wasn’t accidental—that there’s something more sinister at play.
As Isabelle grows more paranoid, the line between reality and delusion begins to blur. She becomes fixated on uncovering the truth behind Marcello’s death, convinced that Alessandro knows more than he’s letting on. There’s also a sense that the city itself is complicit in her unraveling, its streets winding like a maze that she can’t escape. Each time she turns a corner, Venice’s historic buildings seem to close in around her, and every canal reflects a deeper, darker mystery.
Isabelle’s investigation leads her to a series of chilling discoveries—old photographs of a woman who looks strikingly like her, cryptic notes, and old Venetian maps marked with the places where disappearances have occurred over the centuries. As she delves deeper into Venice’s shadows, she begins to unravel a disturbing connection between the tragic events of her life and a centuries-old Venetian legend of a cursed love story. The story speaks of a lover’s betrayal and the city’s retribution, a tale that, eerily, seems to mirror Isabelle’s own tragedy.
As Isabelle’s psychological state deteriorates, she finds herself haunted by visions of Marcello’s ghost and is drawn deeper into the mystery surrounding her fiancé’s death. Alessandro, who has been guiding her through her grief and encouraging her to explore the city, seems to be hiding something. His motivations remain unclear—does he want to help her heal, or is he manipulating her for reasons only he knows? With her trust in him fraying, Isabelle begins to question whether Alessandro is simply a figment of her grief-stricken mind or if he is a dangerous figure connected to her past.
In the film’s tense final act, Isabelle uncovers a truth that shakes her to the core. Venice, it turns out, holds more than just the city’s secrets—it holds the key to her own buried memories. The final sequence, a breathless chase through the misty canals of Venice and the crumbling ruins of its oldest districts, leads Isabelle to a devastating confrontation with Alessandro. The climax questions the nature of identity and memory, leaving audiences wondering if Isabelle has truly discovered the truth or if she’s spiraled into madness.
Themes:
Isolation and Grief: The film explores how solitude can both heal and unravel, particularly after a devastating loss. Venice’s labyrinthine structure mirrors Isabelle’s mental state—at once a place of escape, and yet, also a prison of her own making.
Memory and Illusion: The blurred line between reality and delusion is a central theme, as Isabelle’s grief and trauma intertwine with her experiences in Venice. The film raises questions about how memory shapes perception and how the past can haunt the present.
Love and Betrayal: Central to the mystery is a tragic love story, where the consequences of betrayal stretch through time. Isabelle’s exploration of this theme ultimately leads her to confront her own heartbreak.
The Supernatural and Fate: Venice itself is imbued with a supernatural, almost otherworldly quality. The city’s centuries-old history of tragedy and its association with ghost stories create an atmosphere of foreboding that reflects the supernatural undercurrents in Isabelle’s own experience.
Tone and Style:
The film is slow-burn and atmospheric, using Venice’s gothic beauty and historical significance to create a sense of dread and mystery. The cinematography, with its focus on shadowy alleys, foggy canals, and the intricate interplay of light and dark, adds to the feeling that Venice is alive with secrets. DaCosta’s direction balances the tension of a psychological thriller with the emotional depth of a character study. The score, composed by Jonny Greenwood, is haunting and minimalist, complementing the film’s eerie atmosphere.
Cast:
Emma Mackey as Isabelle: A grieving artist seeking solitude and healing, only to find herself tangled in a web of mystery and possible madness.
Riz Ahmed as Alessandro: A charismatic yet mysterious Venetian historian with a personal connection to the city’s darker history. His role grows increasingly ambiguous as Isabelle’s trust in him falters.
Supporting Cast includes Toni Collette as an older woman who once knew Marcello, offering cryptic insights into the past; and Giovanni Ribisi as a local historian who holds keys to the city’s hidden stories and its ominous past.
Conclusion:
Alone in Venice (2025) is a chilling and emotionally resonant thriller that examines grief, the unraveling of the mind, and the deep, dark secrets that cities—and people—keep hidden. Nia DaCosta’s atmospheric direction and the strong performances by Mackey and Ahmed drive home the movie’s core themes of love, loss, and the haunting nature of memory. It’s a film that lingers, leaving audiences questioning the very nature of reality and whether it’s possible to truly escape the ghosts of the past.
Original title Alone in Venice
Director
Director
Cast
Saul Larson
Mia Jones
Tommaso Greco
Tourist
Prostitute
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