TURBULENCE (Digital Release)

When Claudio first showed me a rough cut of Turbulence, he made one thing very clear: despite the vast, open beauty of the Dolomites, the score needed to make us feel trapped. Four characters suspended in an immense landscape, yet confined to an almost claustrophobic emotional space.

At its core, Turbulence is a psychological thriller. Claudio referenced Hitchcock early on, and we talked a lot about giving the score a subtle Bernard Herrmann edge. At the same time, he was drawn to the sound of my Carnage Organ instrument, which became a key tool for shaping the score’s more otherworldly textures—helping bridge the traditional with the modern.

One of the very first cues I wrote was the piece near the end of the film, appropriately titled “Descent.” There was something deeply genuine and affecting in Hera’s performance in that moment—her fragility, her internal struggle with sadness, betrayal, and loneliness, captured so beautifully, it almost dictated the music itself. I simply had to fill in the notes.

From there, I worked backwards. Eventually I arrived at the opening cue, which sets the emotional tone for the journey ahead. Another central theme appears throughout the score in the cue “Take-Off” - a piece that carries a sense of grandeur and lift, but with an undercurrent of unease. The balloon’s ascent is majestic, yet constantly reminded by shots of the height and danger just beyond the basket’s edge.

We close the score with a darker reflection of that same theme. It is still a take-off, but this time into uncertainty, carrying the weight of what is being left behind.

In the film, protagonists Zach and Emmy take a romantic retreat aboard a hot air balloon that takes a terrifying turn when they are hijacked by a sinister third passenger with a link to Zach's past. As the mystery of their secret relationship is revealed, their spectacular ride becomes a brutal mental chess match and a lethal battle high in the sky.