The new psychological thriller from Paolo Strippoli, in theatres from October 8, 2026, ranks among the autumn’s most anticipated films: it is linked to the success shown at the Venice Film Festival, to the fact that it was chosen to represent Italy at the 2027 Oscars, and above all to the story described by the director as “ruthless and carnal” that narrates, as a mirror of a clearly defined historical window in which many Italian families will ultimately recognize themselves. The locations of L’estranea, all real and all concentrated between Apulia and Lazio, help make what is narrated more universal and make evident the bond between the protagonists and the Apulian director with the places they inhabit in fiction (the former) and in reality (the latter).
What it’s about
On a stormy night, Anna, the protagonist played by Jasmine Trinca, knocks on the door of her daughter Alice’s Roman apartment, the character portrayed by Romana Maggiora Vergano, and reveals the lie on which the family’s balance has rested for over twenty years. Then, in order to save her leg after an accident she had suffered, the woman had struck a deal with a mysterious stranger: the character played by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, from whom the title of Paolo Strippoli’s new film stems. This choice triggered a series of terrible events that had affected the family. Only Alice holds the power to finally interrupt this terrifying chain of events and restore everything to its place. But at what price, though? And will the young woman really be willing to pay it?
Where the film was shot
The family drama by Paolo Strippoli is set between Apulia, where Anna’s family—representing a certain Apulian entrepreneurial class that rapidly grew wealthy between the late 1990s and the early 2000s—has its roots, and Rome, where the daughter Alice has moved, like many of her peers, to forge her own path. To give realism to the narration, the locations used for L’estranea are spread between Apulia and the capital.
Bari
In Bari, the city of origin for Anna’s family, the production (Kazak Productions and Tarantula Film with Le Pacte) chose to shoot both in central, iconic settings that define the city’s history and ongoing tourist appeal, and in more peripheral and marginal areas: a solution allowing the screen to convey Bari’s deeply layered face as it has always presented itself.
On screen the waterfront and the Molo San Nicola are easily recognizable: the picturesque old port of Bari, just at the edge of the city center and near the famous Teatro Margherita, where even today seafaring traditions are handed down, such as the early-morning arrival and sale of fresh fish.
Another Bari location for L’estranea is the San Paolo district: born between the 1950s and 1960s as the city’s first public residential neighborhood, it still preserves its popular spirit despite upgrades over time, including efforts to transform it into a Museum District through murals and street art.
Some scenes of Paolo Strippoli’s new film were shot at the Giovanni XXIII Policlinic.
Monopoli
In Monopoli, filming took place in private locations (such as a medical studio) and service locations (the public kennel) as well as in places beloved by both tourists and locals. One of these is the Carlo V Castle, a sixteenth-century fortress built during the city’s Spanish rule and which still intrigues with its polygonal layout, bastions, drawbridges, and defensive walls.
Impossible to miss on screen is Porto Ghiacciolo, one of Apulia’s most beautiful beaches, famous for its crystal-clear color and especially the low temperature of its waters—hence the name—along with the backdrop of the Abbey of Santo Stefano.
Gioia del Colle
Among the Apulian locations used in L’estranea is also Gioia del Colle. Here, as several local outlets confirm, the crew filmed at Villa Povia. Beyond that, no further details are currently known about which rooms and spaces within the historic residence—crucial to the family’s plot—were used for the shoots, though it has appeared prominently in early set imagery.
Rome
In Rome, the choice of locations appears deliberately at odds with what was done in Apulia, underscoring visually how radically the pact with the stranger has diverted the course of the family’s affairs.
The daughter of Anna lives in the San Lorenzo district: one of the capital’s younger neighborhoods, daily home to a large student and out-of-town population, and lively with fashionable bars and a vibrant nightlife, yet it has not lost its distinctly popular character. It is here, in an apartment on Via degli Ausoni, that scenes were shot, including some on the terrace, where Anna reaches Alice and tells her about the pact that saved her leg when she was a child.
Other scenes were filmed near the Termini Station: another area equally frequented daily by students, commuters, and people moving to or from Rome for various reasons.
Several Roman hospitals are among L’estranea‘s locations, which comes as no surprise given the plot and the inciting incident that disrupts the family’s routine and puts Alice’s health at risk. Filming occurred particularly at San Camillo Hospital, the American Hospital, and the Istituto San Leone Magno.
There are also studio scenes, for which the production of Paolo Strippoli’s new film relied on the Studios on Via Tiburtina: among the capital’s most famous filming stages, where numerous modern Italian cinema classics and highly followed TV programs have been shot.
