La Chimera

In 1980s Italy they were called tombaroli: thieves who dug up Etruscan tombs and sold the contents on the black market. Arthur, played by Josh O'Connor, is an English archaeologist who has fallen in with them and has a talent nobody else has. He finds tombs the way a dowser finds water, and collapses every time he does. Alice Rohrwacher did not shoot on a single film stock. She mixed 35mm, 16mm and Super 16, so as the grain and the frame change, the film's level of reality changes with them. Shooting took place in February and August 2022 across southern Tuscany, northern Lazio, Umbria and Switzerland. It was Rohrwacher's first international cast, with Isabella Rossellini, Alba Rohrwacher and Carol Duarte. It competed for the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2023 and drew a nine-minute standing ovation. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 95 percent, Metacritic at 91. Who it is for: viewers who like myth and daily life held in the same frame. Who it is not for: anyone wanting straightforward narration. The film crosses between dream and reality without warning.