Italian director Andrea De Sica, who directed most of the Netflix teen series Baby, is set to shoot a horror film based on Non Mi Uccidere.
According to Variety, the book was written by late cult author Chiara Palazzolo, with a title that translates to “Don’t Kill Me”. It is about a 19-year-old named Mirta, who, with her older lover, Robin, died of a drug overdose. She then revives alone to find out that in order to continue living, and cherishing the memory of Robin’s love, she must… eat living humans. Well, alright then.
Prior to directing Netflix‘s Baby, which is about teen prostitution in Rome, De Sica made his directorial debut with Children of the Night, a coming-of-age story set at an upper-crust boarding school that flirted with horror elements.
De Sica described Uccidere as “not a full-fledged horror film but more a strange coming-of-age” tale and said he sees it “as the romantic and scary story of a young woman who dies and then resuscitates for love.” He intends to target the same audience as his other works.
De Sica has been working on the Uccidere screenplay with the same group of young Italian screenwriters, called The Grams, who created Baby. Veteran Italian writer and producer Gianni Romoli, who acquired the rights to the book, is also a member of the writing team.The film is being produced by Rome indie studio Vivo Film, the crew behind festival circuit standouts such as Laura Bispuri’s Sworn Virgin, Susanna Nicchiarelli’s Nico, 1988 and Abel Ferrara’s upcoming Siberia. Casting is still being decided.
The plan is to start shooting Non Mi Uccidere next spring, and distribution talks are underway. I wish Andrea De Sica and his team all the best in their work and hope that the film can produce the balanced tone they’re looking for. This feels like it could veer into schlock very, very easily.
