As an isolated member of a reclusive vintner family that adheres to strict ancient traditions to forestall a rare blood disease, Nicolas is torn between dutifully obeying his mother Odette, an esoteric matriarch, and ambitiously implementing innovations to aid his ailing kin.

SYNOPSIS:

As an isolated member of a reclusive vintner family that ritualistically consumes human organs to forestall a rare blood disease, Nicolas is torn between obeying his mother Odette, a matriarch of esoteric tradition, and implementing innovation to aid his ailing kin. When study-abroad students arrive for a wine tasting, Nicolas seizes the opportunity to prove his worth. Nicolas’ plan backfires when Maria, one of the students, causes a commotion by nearly escaping his clutches. For his defiance, the irrefutable Odette sentences Nicolas to a ritualized punishment. Alienated, he seeks out Maria, who manipulates his vulnerabilities to her advantage. Guilt-ridden by the grizzly fate that awaits her, Nicolas sneaks a medicative syringe into her cell, but Maria weaponizes the gift, turning it on the family members in order to flee. The winemakers frantically hunt for her throughout the estate grounds. Fearing the worst, Nicolas rushes to Odette’s room to find her mortally wounded by Maria, and his baby sister Damienne missing. Nicolas tracks Maria through the vineyards in a climactic standoff that sees the cornered victim crush Nicolas’ cousin with a stone and inadvertently kill his baby sister in the process. Damienne’s apparent demise smothers Nicolas’s hope for redemption, and, in a beastial frenzy, he cannibalizes Maria. The denouement sees Nicolas leading a newly structured family, one filled with fresh meat.

CHATEAU SAUVIGNON