Un sussurro nel buio

I wish that the last few minutes of this film didn't exist: rarely has an ending to a film ruined things so much.

For the most part, A Whisper in the Dark is a haunting ghost story: Alessandro Poggi plays 11-year-old Martino, who has an imaginary brother called Luca; unknown to Martino, he once had a sibling of the same name, who was born prematurely and died shortly after. Is 'imaginary' Luca actually the ghost of the dead child, and is he responsible for the bad things that happen to people who upset Martino?

Employing a slow burn approach, director Marcello Aliprandi carefully builds the suspense and eerie atmosphere, with inexplicable occurrences adding to the evidence that Luca is real and not just a figment of Martino's imagination. Eventually, Martino's mother Camilla (Nathalie Delon) starts to believe her son and, realising that the supernatural presence could be due to her inability to accept the loss of her baby, decides to help Luca find peace.

And that's where the film should have ended.

Instead, there's a ridiculous final scene in which Martino and his family are having breakfast, the boy still convinced that Luca is there, the rest of the family playing along. It makes no sense and spoils an otherwise very good movie.

6.5/10, rounded down to 6 for the ending (although Pino Donaggio's excellent score nearly had me rounding it up).