Through Pins and Needles

A married couple from the city, together with their mentally handicapped son, move to a cottage in a forgotten region in an attempt to find a solution to their marital crisis. From the beginning, the unfriendly locals assign them a role in an unknown, dangerous game inspired by the original version of the fairy tale story of Little Red Riding Hood.

Director: Ivo Trajkov

Cestou špendlíků a jehel

Bohumila and Bohumil, a married city couple in their forties, move to a village in a godforsaken region with their mentally handicapped son. There they try to find a way out of their marital and all the other crises that plague them. Their existential crises they hide from each other: no one is interested in her designs, and he has lost his job and the family savings. These secrets add to the gravity of the situation.

The village turns out to be far from the romantic idyll that would help solve their problems. In the midst of a hot summer, each, in their way, tries to cope with the ridicule, intolerance and hostility of the locals. They find themselves in a claustrophobic, closed environment, operating by its own rules. From the beginning, they are assigned a role in an unfamiliar, dangerous play inspired by the original version of the fairy tale story of the girl with the red hood.

The antagonistic leader on the villagers' side is an elderly, apparently ill, charismatic hunter, Sláva. Bohumila is fascinated by his cold attractiveness. Sláva has two allies — Pepa, a roughneck working in the cowshed, and Jarda, the pub owner, aspiring to be the leader.

Strange coincidences, lies big and small and sinister incidents mount up and begin to piece together a strange story about a large animal (a wolf?) living in the woods at the bottom of the ravine behind their cottage. The pervasive sense of a conspiracy of which they are about to become victims, and the threat it poses, does not bring the couple together; quite the opposite.

Old wrongs, present lies, and future regrets will disintegrate the last remnants of their alliance against the world, even though it is hostile to both equally.

Bohumil confronts a local trio with a cast of an animal footprint in plaster. The meeting turns into a drinking bout, joined by a frustrated Bohumila. She escapes Sláva's attempt to make love to her. Later, when she supports the drunken Bohumil on his way home, she is confronted with a similar effort on her husband’s part, bearing the same violent characteristics.

On the next day, the couple discovers that their son has disappeared.