Directed by Stefano Mordini, The Catholic School recalls the events that led to The Circeo Massacre, an infamous Italian crime from 1975. The film relies a lot on narration and portrays the complicated life of teens attending a high-class private Catholic school in Rome.
Heavily reliant on Edoardo’s narration, the film introduces several school attendees and gives us a snapshot of their day-to-day lives, before introducing the two young women who ultimately become victims to three sadistic young men. In the final act, we see Angelo and Guido meeting up with Donatella and Rosaria as they had discussed going to the movies.
The two girls are a bit put off to learn that the boy who initially gave Donatella a lift home, Gian Petro, wasn’t there. However, the two would-be killers lure them to Angelo’s villa in Circeo by promising them Gian would be there. The girls agree and in the beginning, they all seem to be having a great time at the villa.
Things take a turn for the worse when Angelo pulls out a gun and proceeds to lock Donatella and Rosario in a bathroom. I’m unsure why that bathroom only locks from the outside, maybe that’s a 70s thing? As soon as the girls are locked away, Guido goes home for a bit to avoid another beating from his dad. In Guido’s absence, Angelo rapes both young women. Guido eventually returns and joins in on the torture of these two young women. Thankfully, none of the rapes are explicitly shown, but what they do show is disturbing enough.
The two men proceed to assault and beat both Donatella and Rosario up until the third perpetrator, Andrea, shows up. He initially acts benevolently towards the two victims but is soon revealed to be even more of a sadist than both Angelo and Guido put together.
Rosario succumbs to her wounds off-screen, while Donatella is seen to still be alive when the men wrap her up in plastic and blankets before placing both girls in the back of Guido’s car. Andrea stays behind to clean up the villa, while Guido and Angelo drive away. The two park up in the car near Guido’s home and discuss disposing of the bodies at a later time.
Donatella’s cries for help get the attention of a passing police officer, who calls for backup and rescues her. Angelo is arrested shortly after.
We then hear more of Edoardo’s narration explaining how the crime forever changed his upper-middle-class neighborhood. In the aftermath of the crime, we learn that all three perpetrators received life sentences. However, Andrea managed to escape from prison and died in Morroco in 1994, Angelo was released in 2005 and committed two more similar crimes, while Guido has been a free man since 2009.
It leaves us wondering whether Donatella got any real justice or if she managed to find peace during her short life. She was only 47 when she passed away.
Read More: The Catholic School Review
