“A joyous, masterful work of folk magic that plays like a discovery dug up from the ground where it has been for centuries, just waiting, in a rebellious reversal of that tragic shrine scene, to burst into full bloom before the gaze of living eyes.”
—Jessica Kiang, BFI
“A beguiling fantasy-comedy of lost love: garrulous, uproarious and celebratory in her absolutely distinctive style. It’s a movie bustling and teeming with life, with characters fighting, singing, thieving and breaking the fourth wall to address us directly.”
—Peter Bradshaw, Guardian
“A gift of a film, a philosophically stimulating piece of cinema that has the rare capacity to genuinely transform the way we look at the world.”
—Farah Cheded, Playlist
With a mixture of earthiness and magical realism, Alice Rohrwacher (Happy as Lazzaro, NYFF56) conjures a marvelous story set in a rural Italy caught between the ancient and the modern. Josh O’Connor (The Crown) stars as a ne’er-do well Englishman who reconnects with a ragtag group of tomb raiders to locate graves dating back to the Etruscan period. But Arthur has other pursuits on his mind — his long-lost love Beniamina, who haunts his memory. Featuring gorgeous scenes from cinematographer Hélène Louvart and outstanding performances from Isabella Rossellini, Carol Duarte, and Alba Rohrwacher, La Chimera is a dreamlike descent into a world just beneath our own.