Northeast Italy, 1900s. Agata, a devout young woman, is shell-shocked after giving birth to a stillborn baby. In a desperate bid to save her daughter’s soul from eternal damnation, she crosses mountains to a mysterious sanctuary, all while carrying the child’s coffin on her back.

Shot among the lush woodlands and snowcapped peaks of Friuli–Venezia Giulia, Laura Samani’s enthralling debut grounds its mythical imagery in local dialects rarely represented on screen. Portraying maternal grief with an epic dimension, Small Body simmers with the fervor of classical odysseys.