Josh O’Connor Gave One of the Year’s Best Performances in This New-to-Hulu Dramedy

Not all beauty is meant for human eyes, but that doesn’t stop a crew of Italian looters from robbing old tombs and emptying them of their artifacts to sell to the highest bidder. La Chimera is a beautiful rumination on life, and the worth we give it. Josh O’Connor is a gruff grifter, conning dead men out of their possessions, with his crinkled smile and tortured brow. O’Connor delivers a stunning lead performance in an underrated dramedy about life and death. It’s bound to become a classic, whether more people discover it or not.

La Chimera is written and directed by Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher (Happy as Lazzaro). An 80s period piece mostly in Italian, Rohrwacher embraces a dirty but beautiful, rural Italy. Shot on film, it results in a magical, nostalgic aesthetic that transports you to a different time, complete with an anguished performance by O’Connor, who practiced method acting to deliver a role about grief and greed.

What is ‘La Chimera’ About?

La Chimera is set during the 80s in Italy, and British Looter, Arthur, (O’Connor) returns to the country after being released from jail. Caught for raiding tombs with his crew, they all got away while he paid the price. Returning to the home of his missing ex-girlfriend’s house, Beniamina, he freeloads off her elderly mother, Flora (Rossellini), who is still hopeful for her daughter’s return. Arthur reluctantly reunites with his gang, and they begin robbing tombs in Italy once more. Selling old artifacts to the mysterious art dealer, Spartaco (featuring a cameo by Alice Rochwacher), he begins to develop feelings for Flora’s maid and student, Italia (Carol Duarte). But nothing can keep him from chasing the phantom of Beniamina, as he falls further into a pit of despair.

Josh O’Connor Plays a Charming, Italian-Speaking Grave Robber

O’Connor chose to live in tough conditions to portray his character’s impoverished living situation. But, he also gave a devastating character study of grief, as the girl he loves will never return home, though he waits for her anyway. For those who loved his performance in Challengers as a difficult, seductive tennis player, La Chimera finds O’Connor in that territory once more. He embraces being an antihero, leading a band of thieves to rob graves.

O’Connor plays Arthur like an addict, always antsy with wandering eyes searching for his next fix, which is an undiscovered grave. His ability to explode in rage or violence at a moment’s notice makes him a difficult protagonist, but sympathetic all at once. Often down in the dirt and crawling through tight spaces, he gives a physically grueling performance. Most of O’Connor’s scenes come in tight, dark tombs, filming claustrophobic sequences that place him in the dirty underground.

When Arthur is first introduced, it’s not clear if he is the danger himself, or on the run from it. Director Rohrwacher embraces every line and crease on O’Connor’s face, as he uses his smile to charm and mooch off locals and the law to get away with every crime he commits. His shameless flirtation with Italia as he battles his grief makes his moodiness all the more frustrating. Rohwacher created a realistic male character that is not romanticized or filed down to make him easier to swallow.

O’Connor Went Method While Filming and Lived Out of a Camper Van

The filming of La Chimera was grueling too, and makes a case for why O’Connor is one of the most dedicated and versatile leading men working right now. Staying in a cabin void of heat, running water, or food, Arthur lives in squalor, which O’Connor joyfully played out. Speaking to Indiewire, O’Connor spoke about his method:

“I grew up going around in camper vans and camping, but truly, when I first got to Alice in the winter of that year, Alice showed me Arthur’s shack, and I wanted to live in that. And Alice was like, ‘Wait til you see it.’ And I was like, I probably can’t live in that. There was nothing there.I lived for a section of the film in my camper van, and I drove it from England to Italy to see everyone… I stayed in my camper van. I stayed [with] Alice’s great friend Marie. She has a restaurant on Lake Bolsena, and she has this kind of orchard next to it, and that’s where I stayed, so I was washing myself in Lake Bolsena for a chunk of the movie. I had a great time…”

O’Connor’s co-star Isabella Rossellini also revealed O’Connor’s dedication to playing Arthur:

“He wanted to live a little bit like the character, so he was living in a trailer. He was cooking his own food. I stayed in a hotel! Then he rented a little house with no heat. He wanted to really live the life of the people that are in the film, really close to nature, chopping your own wood, warming the house, cooking your own food. The days shooting are quite long. It’s always 14, a little less in Europe than in America, but still 12, still long. 12-14 hour days. I was full of admiration that he went home and cooked for himself from scratch, starting from the wood, chopping it and lighting it.”

‘La Chimera’ Is a Rumination of Grief, Greed and Loss

For a movie about death, La Chimera is bursting with life. The supporting cast of thieves following Arthur are filled with lived-in performances of rascals who can’t appreciate the stolen artifacts the same way as Arthur can. The locations of the sea and mountains alone are breathtaking, and reason enough to watch. As they channel Robin Hood and his merry band of thieves, Rohrwacher calls back to the days of the silent film era, shooting the crew in fast-forward motion as they gleefully run away from cops. It’s a fable-like exploration of greed, and the price men pay for stealing from the dead. She argues, it’s their souls they give up in the process. Rohrwacher was inspired to write the film from stories she heard growing up about real grave diggers:

“Why were they doing it? Because they no longer believe that those objects were sacred. And when do we not consider something sacred? When do we stop attaching any importance to the past life of those objects? These people had started to look at the past in a very different way and that impressed me right there. Because the amazing thing is that for two or three thousand years, those objects were not touched by human souls.”

Embracing Italian culture and continuing to learn Italian alongside his Italian co-stars, O’Connor’s immersion into that culture and world bleeds through on screen. Rossellini also delivers her best performance in years, as a grieving mother in denial that her daughter is gone. Everyone is chasing something, whether it’s youth, gold, or a lost love. But as the title suggests, all the characters are after something they can never find, a chimera, and Arthur’s Chimera will always be Beniamina. With bursts of light and darkness, O’Connor’s seductive lead performance proves he can be a Hollywood leading man of any capacity.

La Chimera is now streaming on Hulu in the U.S.

Watch on Hulu