Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera – 2023 Cannes Critics’ Panel: Day 10

A Cannes mainstay since her humble beginnings in the Directors’ Fortnight section with Corpo celeste, Alice Rohrwacher quickly ascended to comp-worthy status with the Grand Prix winning The Wonders (2014) and Best Screenplay winning Lazzaro Felice (2018). She was actually on the Croisette last year with the short Le pupille (Cannes Classics) and comes with the Neon-backed project La Chimera — her third trip in competition. Starring a dirty pants, shoes and socks wearing Josh O’Connor and featuring Isabelle Rossellini in a bit role, this is a last-day miracle of a picture.

Set during the 1980s in the clandestine world of the tombaroli, or tomb robbers, La Chimera tells the story of a young English archaeologist (O’Connor) caught up in the illegal trafficking of ancient finds. Carol Duarte, Alba Rohrwacher and Vincenzo Nemolato star in the pic, which is production in Tarquinia and southern Tuscany and will continue during the summer in central Italy and Switzerland.

Current temp: Part of a final lethal dose pair of films out of the competition, Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera will likely be in the awards race as Italian’s submission and it’ll also be in the running for a prize this year. Fourteen of our twenty critics weighed in and we are looking at a remarkable 3.5 average — it’s perhaps her best feature to date.

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