Indie Spotlight: ‘Sinners’ Puts A Horrific, Modern Spin On Dante

We receive a ton of tips every day from independent creators, unaffiliated with any major motion picture studios, television networks, new media studios, or other well-funded online video entities. The Indie Spotlight is where we’ll write about and shout out to a select few of them and bring you up to speed on the great (and sometimes not-so-great) attention-grabbing series you probably haven’t heard about until now.  Read previous installments here.

Did you know that outside of the US and Canada, the YouTube string “web series” is most searched in Italy? Italian creators have released some incredible productions, with Ivan Silvestrini’s Stuck serving as one of the best examples. The latest web series to emerge from the boot-shaped island is Sinners: Which One Is You?, a dark and terrifying adaptation of Dante’s Inferno.

Each episode of Sinners tackles a different sin. The debut (embedded below) shows us what happens to the perpetually indolent, while episode two portrays the horrors that befall the lustful. Both of these hellish punishments mirror those described by Dante in his poetic masterpiece. Though the physical horrors don’t come until the end of each episode, creator David Petrucci does well to make each sin emotionally horrifying through graphic domestic crimes like abuse and rape. His creative vision is certainly a far cry from the twee and upbeat series I usually feature in this space.

Though Petrucci is Italian, his series spans the globe. Episode one is set in Romania, episode two moves to Spain, and each upcoming installment will take place in a new country. I think Petrucci is trying to show that sin is universal; while that may be true, I hope the ‘brutally stung to death by gadflies’ punishment is reserved for the worst of the worst.

OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT:

• Paulie Pastrami: King of Illegal Meats. A Sopranos parody starring a mobster who makes his fortune selling pastrami.
• In The Circle. A reality series that follows the intersecting personal lives of seven young artists living in Brooklyn.
• NoVanilla. A series that promotes safe and fulfilling BDSM practices. It’s partially aimed at fans of 50 Shades of Grey.
• The Dark Knight Retires. This parody shows what happens when the Caped Crusaders gets sick of serving the needy, entitled residents of Gotham.

Got a series you’d like to see featured in the Indie Spotlight? Be sure to contact us here. For best coverage, please include a full episode in your e-mail.