The Kidnapping of Arabella

A delightfully idiosyncratic homage to sisterhood, Carolina Cavalli’s sophomore feature stars Benedetta Porcaroli as stifled 28-year-old Holly, who has a chance encounter with the titular 8-year-old (Lucrezia Guglielmino). Intuitively convinced that this girl is quite literally a younger version of herself, Holly runs away with Arabella and sets into motion a frequently comic and just as often profoundly reflective chain of events by which our heroines will strive to make peace with their pasts, their present, and their futures. Chris Pine makes an unforgettable appearance as Arabella’s deadpan novelist father. Porcaroli won the Orizzonti Best Actress Award at the film’s Venice Film Festival premiere, and she was nominated for a Donatello Award, alongside Cavalli’s nod for Best New Director, for her 2022 debut, Amanda. An Oscilloscope Laboratories release.