With Illusione, arriving in theaters from May 7 after its press preview, Francesca Archibugi delivers one of her most mature and surprising films of recent years: a dense, restless psychological thriller, permeated by a moral tension that lingers long after the end credits.
The starting point is that of a contemporary noir: Rosa Lazar, a sixteen-year-old Moldovan girl, is found near death in a ditch on the outskirts of Perugia. A determined deputy prosecutor and a psychologist with a complex past move around the case, as the investigation gradually opens up increasingly dark scenarios linked to child exploitation and emotional manipulation. Yet Archibugi uses the investigative mechanism only as an entry point to tell something deeper: the fragility of identity, the need to be loved, and the gray zone where victims and perpetrators often coexist.
The director avoids any sensationalism and instead builds a cinema of glances, silences, and underlying tensions. It is precisely this restraint that makes Illusione so powerful. The film never seeks emotional shortcuts, but accompanies the viewer into a constant, lucid discomfort that becomes a reflection on the present and on contemporary forms of violence.
The cast is outstanding. Jasmine Trinca delivers an intense and controlled performance, built entirely on nuance, while Michele Riondino once again confirms his ability to inhabit ambiguous characters without ever making them predictable. But the real revelation is Angelina Andrei: magnetic, fragile, elusive, she gives the film its most painful and authentic emotional core.
Visually, Illusione is equally compelling. The cold, muted cinematography portrays a peripheral Perugia far removed from any aestheticization, almost suspended in a dimension of solitude and fear. Archibugi directs with great rigor, always maintaining control of the narrative even in its most emotionally complex moments.
More than a simple thriller, Illusione is a film that questions the viewer, forcing us to confront the contradictions of its characters and our own. A mature, painful, and necessary work, capable of combining narrative tension and emotional depth without ever losing authenticity.
One of the most interesting Italian titles of the season.
ILLUSIONE
Periferia di Perugia. In un fosso viene ritrovata una ragazzina. Indossa un completo d’alta moda ed è bellissima. La polizia sta per portare via il corpo, quando un sospiro la svela ancora viva: si chiama Rosa Lazar, è moldava e non ha nemmeno 16 anni.
La sostituta procuratrice Cristina Camponeschi e lo psicologo Stefano Mangiaboschi sono immediatamente chiamati a occuparsi del caso.
L’indagine è più complicata del previsto, perché Rosa non sembra avere coscienza delle brutali violenze subite e copre la verità dei fatti. Dietro la maschera di un’incessante gioiosità emerge un profilo psicologico molto disturbato. Come è arrivata a Perugia questa lolita che non sembra una normale prostituta e che si comporta come una bambina?
Per la sostituta procuratrice Rosa diventerà la chiave per un’indagine internazionale su scenari inquietanti. Per lo psicologo sarà un altro tipo di indagine, interiore, che lo porterà a scoprire il vero enigma di Rosa Laza
Il film sarà nelle sale dal 7 maggio 2026, distribuito da 01 Distribution.
La sceneggiatura è firmata da Francesca Archibugi, Laura Paolucci, Francesco Piccolo, la fotografia è a cura di Francesco Di Giacomo, il montaggio di Esmeralda Calabria, le musiche originali di Battista Lena, la scenografia di Giada Calabria, i costumi di Catherine Buyse.
Illusione è una produzione Fandango con Rai Cinema in coproduzione con Tarantula, prodotto da Domenico Procacci e Laura Paolucci, coprodotto da Joseph Rouschop ed Eva Curia.
L’opera è stata realizzata e distribuita con il contributo del Fondo per lo sviluppo degli investimenti nel cinema e nell’audiovisivo del Ministero della Cultura. In co-produzione con Shelter Prod – Con il supporto di Taxshelter.be e ING – Con il supporto del TAX SHELTER del GOVERNO FEDERALE del BELGIO – Con il patrocinio del COMUNE DI PERUGIA
Osvaldo Sponzilli is a photographer and European reporter certified by the EU Wrep Register (wrep.eu – Web Reporter & Creator Blockchain Registry), with a worldview shaped by decades of professional activity and research.
His multidisciplinary background — as a physician, researcher, university lecturer, and scholar of fields ranging from traditional to non-conventional medicine — has refined a deeply analytical perspective on reality, which he brings into his photographic work with the same scientific rigor and human sensitivity that define his career.
Over time, his passion for photography has become a parallel language, capable of expressing what the written word cannot always capture. A passion he has also passed on to his daughters: Laura, a versatile photographer who has worked in still life, sports, and wedding photography, served as a producer at EDI, a film post-production company, and now expresses her creativity as an artisan; and Giada, who, after attending prestigious film schools in New York, Cuba, and London, lives and works in the British capital as a director of photography and event videomaker.
A contributor to various publications, he also appears on television and radio programs and has more than 100 publications to his name. Throughout his career, he has served as a trusted physician to prominent figures in Italian culture, entertainment, and politics.