Sightlines · reception

How La Chimera was received

2023 · Alice Rohrwacher · La Chimera on Sightlines

The arc

It left Cannes 2023 empty-handed in a jury decision critics immediately called a snub, then slow-burned through its 2024 US release into year-end top-tens and 'best of the decade so far' conversations.

What’s debated

The perennial fan debate is whether it or Happy as Lazzarro is Rohrwacher's masterpiece — with a side dispute between those enchanted by its drifting, digressive rhythm and those who find it shapeless.

Its footprint

Josh O'Connor's increasingly filthy white linen suit became a Letterboxd and film-Twitter icon, and the film rode the 2024 'year of Josh O'Connor' wave alongside Challengers into far wider cult circulation than a typical arthouse release.

Where it stands

A Letterboxd darling and rapid canon climber — already treated as a 'you must see this' entry point to Rohrwacher and one of the 2020s' consensus arthouse touchstones.

Did you know? Josh O'Connor got the part years after sending Alice Rohrwacher an out-of-the-blue fan letter offering to work with her in any capacity — she eventually replied with La Chimera.