Handlung

From the bitter quest of the Queen of Longtrellis, to two mysterious sisters who provoke the passion of a king, to the King of Highhills obsessed with a giant Flea, these tales are inspired by the fairytales by Giambattista Basile.

The film serves as Garrone's English-language debut and will interweave three separate story strands bookended by brief bits in which Italians Alba Rohrwacher and Massimo Ceccherini will play a street circus family. In one tale, Salma Hayek will play a jealous queen who forfeits her husband's life. In another, Vincent Cassel plays a king whose passion is stoked by two mysterious sisters.—moha alomari

Once upon a time there were three neighboring kingdoms each with a magnificent castle, from which ruled kings and queens, princes and princesses. One king was a fornicating libertine, another captivated by a strange animal, while one of the queens was obsessed by her wish for a child. Sorcerers and fairies, fearsome monsters, ogres and old washerwomen, acrobats and courtesans are the protagonists of this loose interpretation of the celebrated tales of Giambattista Basile.—Ipsith

In a Kingdom, the Queen is sad in her marriage with the King since she cannot get pregnant. One day, a strange man offers an alternative that would depend on bravery and sacrifice: the King should kill a sea monster and take his heart out; a virgin should prepare the heart alone; and the Queen should eat it. Then she would be pregnant. Will it work? In another Kingdom, the libertine King overhears a voice of a woman singing in the village and he falls in love with the voice. However, the woman is Dora, who lives alone with her sister Imma, and both are old and ugly women. What can Dora do to avoid the King's harassment? In another Kingdom, the King raises a giant flea and his daughter Violet that is reaching the age of getting married. When his flea dies, he shows its skin and promises the hand of Violet to the one that guess what the skin is. When an Ogre correctly responds the question, Violet shall move to the mountains with him. What will happen with the couple?—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

A trilogy of fairytales inspired by the works of Giambattista Basile. These fantastical tales span from the kingdom of Longtrellis where the king and queen have difficulty conceiving, to Highhills where the king becomes obsessed with taming a giant flea. Directed by Matteo Garrone (Gomorrah, Dogman).

The Enchanted Doe

In the kingdom of Longtrellis, the King and Queen cannot conceive a child. A necromancer suggests that if the Queen eats a sea dragon's heart cooked by a virgin, she will become with child but this will cost a life. The King slays the sea dragon but dies from his wounds. The Queen eats the heart and the next day bears a son, Elias, with hair as white as the dragon. The cook also gives birth to a boy, Jonah. The boys are identical and inseparable friends. This so vexes the Queen that she attempts to murder Jonah, though he manages to escape. Jonah leaves the kingdom, plunging a knife into a tree root and telling Elias that as long as the root spouts clear water, he is alive and well. One day the water is clouded with blood. Elias leaves to find Jonah. The Queen has her subjects search for Elias to no avail. The necromancer blames the Queen and says the youths are truly inseparable, and that her violent desire can be achieved only through violence. Elias finds Jonah wounded in a cave. They are threatened by a monster, which wounds Jonah but hesitates to attack Elias, who kills the monster and returns Jonah to his wife. In the cave, the monster's corpse dissolves into that of the Queen.

The Flayed Old Lady

The lustful King of Strongcliff is intrigued by the sound of a woman's heavenly singing. He courts her outside her home, unaware that she is one of two elderly sisters, Imma and Dora. Dora agrees to spend the night with him as long as it is in complete darkness. He is horrified when he sees her appearance the next morning and has his guards throw her out of the window. She survives, entangled in the branches of a tree. A witch rescues her and nurses her from her breast. Dora awakens as a young, beautiful maiden. The King comes upon her while hunting and decides to make her his Queen. Dora invites Imma to the wedding and promises to take care of her, but says she cannot stay in the castle. Imma refuses to leave, asking for the secret to her sister's youth and beauty. In annoyance, Dora says she got herself flayed. Finally thrown out after violating the royal couple's privacy in their bedroom, Imma finds someone willing to flay her, leaving her bloody and disfigured.

The Flea

The King of Highhills becomes fascinated by a flea, which he hides in his room as a pet. It grows gigantic under his care. When it dies, the King decides to skin it. His daughter Violet tells him she wants to be married, so he offers her as a bride to whoever can guess from what beast the skin was taken, believing no-one can do so. However an ogre correctly identifies the hide by smell. Violet is horrified but her father says he cannot go back on his word. Violet goes through with the marriage but says her father never loved her. The ogre takes Violet to his cave, where she is raped and kept prisoner. A family of acrobats helps her to escape, but the ogre gives chase and kills the entire family. He is mollified by Violet, who then slits his throat. Violet returns to the castle, where the King has grown ill and reveals she has the head of the ogre, the husband he "chose" for her. The King falls to his knees crying and the courtiers follow suit. Violet, too, begins to cry.

Elias, Dora and the King of Strongcliff are among the guests for Violet's coronation as Queen. There, Elias nods to her and the King of Strongcliff. As Violet's father walks her to the throne the crowd looks skyward, where an entertainer is walking a tightrope of fire. We see Dora's beauty begin to fade and, unnoticed, she flees the castle.