Through the Graves the Wind Is Blowing

If there is anyone who embodies the current state of life in Croatia, it is the police detective Ivan Peric. The son of a fisherman, he became a detective as a way of avoiding working in the only really prospering industry of present-day Croatia – tourism. Now his life is consumed by trying to solve a series of essentially unsolvable murders of tourists. Because the tourists are so widely despised, no one will help Ivan. Evidence disappears into the labyrinth of bureaucracy. He is humiliated in public and online. In the local press, his boss even labels him an “uhljeb”, the Croatian slur for a “lazy bureaucratic parasite”. All of this takes place in the city of Split, where the breakup of Yugoslavia has left its mark.

Directed by Travis Wilkerson, Through the Graves the Wind Is Blowing leans on a strong ensemble — Ivan Perić, Travis Wilkerson, Matilda Jane Wilkerson — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 2024.