Set in the 1980s, in the former Etruscian landscape of rural Italy, the film follows a vagabond-type character called Arthur (played by Josh O’Connor); an Englishman who embodies the spirit of the Romantics, he is searching for something he can’t quite grasp. As an archeologist, he makes use of his unique skills to aid a ragtag group of tomboroli – local graverobbers – to find ancient tombs filled with artefacts to sell on the black market. To the locals these graves are sacred, believing curses to follow those who enter. But Arthur, who is mourning the loss of his love Beniamina, is less concerned with the monetary value of the objects, using the digs to search for the door to the afterlife – of which myths speak – where he imagines reuniting with her. A cloud of mystery follows him as he walks the line between the living and the dead, between reality and trickery, between the past and the present. Bringing him into the present is Italia (Carol Duarte), a single mother who befriends him and opens his eyes to the world in new ways.
Genre: Drama
Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Cast: Josh O’Connor, Carol Duarte, Isabella Rossellini
Length: 2 hours 10 minutes
Language: English / Italian
Certificate: 12a
Format: DCP
Accessibility: HOH Descriptive Subtitles
Date: 10th May 2024
