The Spiral

Accompanied by the pulsating 1980s sound of the Bollock Brothers, as well as waltzes and hypnotic explosions of animated color, Emma talks about how she sometimes sinks into a downward spiral of fear and emotions. She is a hypochondriac who since childhood has been thought of as having an overly vivid imagination, as someone who “overreacts” and is “hypersensitive.” Nothing she said as a child was taken seriously, even when there really was something wrong.

In The Spiral, an empathetic and brilliantly stylized film, Emma—who we never actually see—offers an unabashed account of her forlorn ride towards childhood, her family and the loneliness of “home.” Sometimes home just doesn’t feel like home. The Spiral was selected for the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes.