La Chimera May 2026

Alice Rohrwacher's La Chimera (2023) is a dreamlike excavation of memory, grief, and the weight of history. Set in 1980s Tuscany, it follows Arthur (Josh O'Connor), a disheveled British archaeologist with a supernatural gift: he can "divine" the locations of ancient Etruscan tombs using a dowsing rod. The Quest for the Impossible

Then there is the underground.

The Plot Summary

The story follows Arthur (Josh O'Connor), a young British archaeologist and scholar of Etruscan antiquities. Arthur possesses a special, almost supernatural gift: he is a "tombarolo," a grave robber who can sense the presence of ancient tombs underground using a dowsing rod. He can "sing" the earth into revealing its secrets. La Chimera

Significance

Isabella Rossellini plays Flora, a former opera singer and the mother of the lost Beniamina. Her home is a chaotic ruin filled with peacocks and piano keys. She represents the crumbling aristocracy, but also the memory of the woman Arthur cannot find. Their relationship is tender and traumatic—a mother grieving a daughter, a lover refusing to finish mourning. Alice Rohrwacher's La Chimera (2023) is a dreamlike

that places the film within the context of classic world cinema and Rohrwacher's previous work. My Roman Empire

This tragic motivation transforms La Chimera from a simple crime drama into a profound meditation on grief. For Arthur, every illicit dig is an act of desperation. He violates the earth not for greed, but for love. The Plot Summary The story follows Arthur (Josh

The film moves in disorienting jumps. Characters burst into Neapolitan songs. The aspect ratio shifts. Time collapses. This is intentional. Rohrwacher wants us to feel like Arthur: unmoored, caught between the present and a past that refuses to stay buried.