Italian justice Judgment. A murder case. It happened in the village, where, as usual, everyone knows everything, and few who doubt that the defendant is not guilty, considering what happened as the result of a natural retaliation that overtook the deceased for the murder of the younger brother of the accused of revenge teenager, for whom the only chance for release was a tireless mother, aware of the guilt of every villager, whose silence covered the murderer of her younger son, and now can take away the elder, who trembles with fear of God and a strict judge.
Arranged as a judicial investigation, the film consists of fragments of interrogations of the accused and witnesses, alternating with episodes that reveal the background of the two murders, as well as the determination of the mother who persuades fellow villagers to cooperate, of good will or against her, forcing them to remember their conscience or faith, washing the soul in perjury, exchanging another sin for him.
Not much is enough to capture not only the detective-thriller tension, but also the psychological drama in the actions of individual participants in this criminal history, where the observance of moral and ethical norms is a deadly threat to one, and neglecting them becomes the only way out for another, where justice is really blind and helpless, and hope is defenseless and hopeless in the expectation of justice, which was not and is not in this city.
An eleven-year-old boy dies only because, because of his purity, he was unable to lie to an adult who used his truth to later cover up a murderer who was quietly lost among the residents, not giving rest to his mother, whose guilt does not allow her to retreat, when, washing her hands, the investigation shifts its duties to her, becoming with silent neighbors at the same time.
One or another, there are many people in this movie who say one thing and do another, who pray fervently in the church, but act as godless, who talk about morality, without ceasing to trample on its foundations - dark personalities, dirty deeds, impregnated honor and a heavy heart, like that mother who by her neglect did not save an innocent child who, like the Lamb, was slit by a vile villain.
A variety of thoughts come to mind about wretched uncles and aunts, about double-thinking and lack of thought, biblical motifs are read in illustrative scenes and gospel plots are revealed, inducing a critical view of truth and justice, thickening with the growing tension around the fourteen-year-old defendant repeating the fate of his brother, facing the same choice of lies and truth that divides his life or death, taking the bitterness of the truth hidden in that.
In the measured rhythm of leaving the story back and returning to the present, the director, together with the brave actor, makes you feel the inner hesitations of a courageous teenager for a while obscure an even more difficult and risky decision by a grief-stricken mother who is responsible not only for the life but also for the purity of their child’s soul, the care of which gives an unexpected turn of this story, giving the dramatic thriller the attributes of a perfect murder, where justice is done, evil is punished and the conscience of the innocent is clean.