Paolo Sorrentino is obsessed with beauty… and youth… and pretty much everything else that is fleeting, including the audience’s attention. The Italian filmmaker’s maximalist tendencies have never been more on display than in his latest work, Parthenope, a work of extreme aestheticism that is so indulgent it borders on pointless. However, the film’s undeniable beauty makes it hard to dismiss entirely.

Parthenope Review

Parthenope follows a young woman of the same name who is studying to be an anthropologist but finds that the world around her constantly stops, completely transfixed by her beauty. If you’re wondering if there is more to the story than that… not really. It’s mostly just the protagonist being in Italy and swatting off the advances of men as things happen to her.

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