Remis is a small village nestled in a secluded valley in the mountains. Its inhabitants are all unusually happy. It seems the perfect destination for new PE teacher Sergio Rossetti, haunted by a mysterious past. Thanks to an encounter with Michela, the young owner of the village inn, the teacher discovers that behind the seeming peacefulness lies a disturbing ritual: one night a week, the villagers gather to hug Matteo Corbin, a teenager capable of absorbing the pain of others. Sergio’s attempt to save the young man will awaken the dark side of the man everyone calls the Angel of Remis.

DIRECTOR'S NOTES:
La valle dei sorrisi was born from a desire to explore horror not as a simple suspense machine, but as a symbolic space for portraying the fragility of identity and the desperate need for belonging. In a seemingly idyllic community, where pain is banished and serenity is a religion, Matteo’s journey unfolds: a queer teenager as sacrificial body and, at the same time, as redeeming entity. The film is an exploration of growth as a profound transformation, but also of fatherhood as an ambiguous form of protection, control, and reflection. Paternal figures — biological, surrogate, spiritual — alternate in an attempt to fill a void. Far from the archetypes of the canonical coming-of-age, this story depicts growing up as a loss of innocence and an act of resistance. It is a film about healing love — but at what cost. About the importance of pain in our lives. And about those who have the courage not to smile.