Celebrating Our 20th Anniversary!
by Alex Billington
June 10, 2026
Source: YouTube
“Too many things don’t add up in this story. Oscilloscope Labs has revealed their official US trailer for an indie film from Italy titled The Kidnapping of Arabella, the latest distinct cinematic story from Italian filmmaker Carolina Cavalli after her last film Amanda. It first premiered at the 2025 Venice Film Festival last year, and it also played at the London & Chicago Film Festivals as well. An Italian woman named Holly is convinced she’s living the wrong version of her life until an 8-year-old girl changes her perspective. Holly becomes convinced their meeting is a cosmic sign. The two embark on an unconventional road trip between two lost souls who might be exactly what the other needs. Cavalli states: “Holly belongs to a group of people—or perhaps a generation—afraid life is always happening somewhere else. Like when we were children, imagining a thousand possible lives… even if we’d probably only live one. But thinking like that as adults devalues reality; it distracts from the real world, its meaning, its beauty, its injustices, and our own role in it all.” The film stars Benedetta Porcaroli as Holly, Lucrezia Guglielmino as Arabella, and Chris Pine as Orest D, her dad. This looks like a singular indie creation featuring intricate comedy following these two.
Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Carolina Cavalli’s film The Kidnapping of Arabella, on YouTube:
Holly (Benedetta Porcaroli) spends her days working at her dead-end job fantasizing about holes in the space-time continuum & wondering where her life went wrong. She meets Arabella (played by Lucrezia Guglielmino), an 8-year-old rebel hoping to run away from her own self-absorbed author father. Holly becomes convinced their meeting is a cosmic sign, and that Arabella is, in fact, her past self sent back for a second chance. The two embark on an unconventional road trip between lost souls who might be exactly what the other needs. The Kidnapping of Arabella, also known as Il rapimento di Arabella in Italian, is written & directed by Italian indie filmmaker Carolina Cavalli, her second feature after directing Amanda previously. Produced by Antonio Celsi and Annamaria Morelli. This initially premiered at the 2025 Venice Film Festival last year and played at a few other fests. Oscilloscope Labs debuts Cavalli’s The Kidnapping of Arabella in select US theaters starting July 17th, 2026 this summer. For more info, visit their official site.
