Alice (ah-LEE-cheh) Rohrwacher’s latest movie, a 16mm fable replete with diegetic music—music that exists within the world of the film and helps tell its story, is a breath of fresh air for those missing original narrative and well-crafted thematic exploration.

Rohwacher, an Italian writer-director who directed Happy as Lazzaro, enlists Josh O’Connor, Carol Duarte, Vincenzo Nemolato, and even a few quick appearances from Isabella Rossellini, to tell the tale of a kind of tomb-raider who is obsessed with Etruscan antiquities (who isn’t?).

Overall, the cinematography is eloquent, the art direction genuine, and the acting well-rooted. Unfortunately, Josh O’Connor does not seem to fully rise to the formation of a truly compelling character, barely holding my interest during the 2h 11m movie, where he is featured the most (he ends up mostly looking somber throughout, albeit perhaps intentional). And, overall, a sense of gloomy boredom and aimless sadness seems to...