‘The Kidnapping Of Arabella’ Review – A Bizarre Italian Roadtrip

So right off the bat The Kidnapping of Arabella is a very, very bizarre film. One of the more interesting things about the film is how, almost immediately, it asks you to accept a bizarre premise without ever fully explaining it. Carolina Cavalli’s second feature follows Holly (Benedetta Porcaroli), a lonely 28-year-old woman drifting through life in northern Italy, convinced she somehow became the wrong version of herself. She spends her days working at an ice rink, moving through life with resentment and a head full of impossible ideas. After quitting her job, she meetsan eight-year-old runaway named Arabella (Lucrezia Guglielmino), who jokingly introduces herself as “Holly.” She becomes convinced the child is actually her younger self somehow sent into the future. Instead of questioning the idea, Holly embraces it completely, dragging the girl into an impulsive road trip across the Italian countryside in the hope of correcting all the mistakes that led her here.

It’s definitely an intriguing setup. A woman trying to rewrite her own past, by mentoring the child she believes she once was, opens the door to a story about regret and the uncomfortable realization that adulthood rarely resembles what we imagined as children. There are moments where Cavalli seems genuinely interested in those ideas. Unfortunately, the screenplay rarely develops them beyond their initial appeal.

To get things out of the way, the strongest element is easily the relationship between Holly and Arabella. Holly is not someone who earns your sympathy, as she’s dishonest, manipulative, selfish, and often makes terrible decisions, yet Porcaroli gives the character enough vulnerability that you never completely push her away. Beneath Holly’s constant attempts to control situations is someone desperately trying to convince herself that her life isn’t beyond repair. Porcaroli understands that contradiction and plays it beautifully. She never asks us to excuse Holly’s behavior, only to understand where it’s coming from. 

Lucrezia Guglielmino is equally impressive. Arabella could have easily become nothing more than a quirky child written to deliver cute observations, but Guglielmino gives her surprising emotional intelligence. She slowly realizes Holly isn’t simply eccentric but genuinely struggling, and the dynamic shifts from Holly believing she’s protecting Arabella to Arabella quietly becoming the more emotionally mature person. Their chemistry carries almost every scene they’re in together, and it’s the main reason the film remains watchable even when it starts wandering.

Chris Pine also makes a solid impression as Arabella’s father, Orest D., a successful novelist trying to track down his missing daughter. It’s a relatively small role, but he brings a grounded presence whenever he appears. I was also pleasantly surprised by how natural his Italian sounds, which helps him blend into the world rather than feeling like stunt casting. Still, it’s a wonder how he even got cast, as this is way beyond his usual work.

So that is pretty much where the positives end, and where the film begins losing its footing is in Cavalli’s writing. The screenplay leans heavily into dry, awkward humor built around emotionally detached people saying strange things with completely straight faces. That style can absolutely work when the jokes reveal something about the characters, but here they often feel random for the sake of being random. And while that can work (for example, Wes Anderson movies), it doesn’t entirely work here. Conversations frequently drift into non sequiturs that don’t build toward anything, and scenes that clearly want to be funny simply sit there waiting for a laugh from the audience that never comes.

The larger problem is that nearly everyone Holly and Arabella meet speaks with the exact same emotional register. Whether it’s strangers, hotel employees, wedding guests, or people they encounter during their journey, almost every supporting character shares the same detached, cynical personality. After a while, the film starts to feel emotionally flat because there’s very little contrast between anyone. It creates a strange sense of repetition that slowly drains energy from the story. That sameness also hurts the emotional payoff. Holly’s gradual acceptance that she can’t change her past should land as a meaningful breakthrough, but because the screenplay spends so much time indulging itself, the emotional climax never feels fully earned. 

Cavalli deserves credit for tackling familiar themes from an unusual angle. The film is ultimately about growing up, making peace with regret, and recognizing that the person you imagined becoming isn’t always the person you end up being. There’s a thoughtful idea buried underneath Holly’s delusion that many people can probably relate to, the fantasy of going back and warning your younger self before everything went wrong. It’s an emotionally rich concept.

I just wish the screenplay trusted that idea more instead of constantly hiding behind awkward absurdity. For some viewers, that deadpan style will likely be part of the film’s charm, and they will be able to resonate with it and even really enjoy it. I never quite connected with it, though. The emotional core between Holly and Arabella is strong enough to keep you invested, and Porcaroli delivers a performance that makes Holly far more compelling than she has any right to be on paper. But when the writing surrounding that relationship feels so uneven, the film never reaches the emotional depth it’s clearly chasing.

The Kidnapping of Arabella has flashes of genuine warmth beneath its offbeat exterior. I only wish Carolina Cavalli had paired those strengths with a screenplay that felt as emotionally honest as the story it wanted to tell.

The Kidnapping of Arabella will debut in theaters at the IFC Center in NYC on July 17, 2026, courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories. The film will expand to Leammle Monica in Los Angeles on July 24th, followed by additional markets in the weeks after. 

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