Shudder has acquired The Holy Boy for a 2026 streaming release in North America, the UK, and Ireland, Deadline reports.
The Italian/Slovenian horror fable premiered at the Venice Film Festival before playing Fantastic Fest last week, where it won the Next Wave Best Director Award and the Audience Award.
A teacher tormented by his past, Sergio is transferred to Remis, a secluded village known as the happiest town in Italy. But Sergio soon discovers that behind the town’s joyful facade lies a disturbing secret: each week, the villagers gather to hug Matteo, an introverted 15-year-old whose embrace can free one of all pain and sorrow.
As Sergio uncovers that the village’s devotion to Matteo is far from benevolent, his attempt to rescue the boy known as the Angel of Remis ignites the community’s vengeful nature.
Paolo Strippoli (A Classic Horror Story) directs from a script he co-wrote with Jacopo Del Giudice and Milo Tissone.
Michele Riondino, Giulio Feltri, Paolo Pierobon, and Romana Maggiora Vergano star.
“Shudder is a guiding light in visionary genre cinema, and I am beyond thrilled they will bring The Holy Boy to a wider, passionate audience,” said Strippoli. “The film explores our relationship with pain — the shortcuts we take to avoid it, and the way in which pain itself makes us fully human. We imagined a town that does not exist but could and a ritual that does not exist but could: an uncanny embrace that takes away all suffering. Soon, new audiences will embrace The Holy Boy, and discover its terrifying consequences.”
“We were blown away by The Holy Boy,” added Shudder Vice President of Programming Samuel Zimmerman. “Paolo Strippoli crafts an eerie and provocative horror film, one that builds to an astonishing finish. We knew instantly this belonged with Shudder.”
The Holy Boy is set to play Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, and Warsaw Film Festival in October.
