Il Buco

In August 1961, a group of young speleologists travels from Italy's prosperous north to a remote plateau in Calabria, where life seems to have stood still. Their aim is to explore a cave system in the Pollino area and reach the bottom of the Bifurto Abyss, roughly 700 metres underground. The expedition goes largely unnoticed by the residents of a nearby village, but not by an elderly shepherd who tends his animals on the plateau and becomes the silent witness to the newcomers' descent. As the cavers push deeper into the unknown, his solitary routine and their underground journey begin to run alongside each other.

Michelangelo Frammartino directed Il Buco, his third feature after The Gift and The Four Times. He wrote the screenplay with Giovanna Giuliani and produced the film with Philippe Bober and Marco Serrecchia. It is a co-production between Germany, Italy and France. The cast is led by Nicola Lanza as the shepherd, alongside Leonardo Larocca, Claudia Candusso, Mila Costi, Carlos José Crespo and Jacopo Elia, with a crew of 92 and 45 credited cast members. The film runs 93 minutes and is a drama.

Released in September 2021, Il Buco has a rating of 6.6 out of 10 on IMDb, based on around 2,200 votes, and 6.2 out of 10 on TMDB, from a much smaller number of votes. The two audience scores sit close together, with the larger IMDb sample slightly higher.