A24’s film, Parthenope is nothing short of a cinematic puzzle, being both visually mesmerizing and thematically elusive. More than a conventional narrative, Parthenope operates as a metaphor, an abstract meditation on beauty, disruption, and time. It’s a visual experience that will either captivate you or leave you adrift, depending on how willing you are to surrender to its rhythm.
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At its core, Parthenope tells the story of a young woman of extraordinary beauty whose mere presence disrupts the world around her. Her stunning appearance becomes both her gift and her curse. People don’t just see her, they become consumed by her. Yet, despite this constant attention, she remains emotionally disconnected, unable to truly grasp happiness, comfort, and meaningful intimacy. Over time, she attempts to find meaning, forging an understanding of herself and the world, though never quite becoming part of it. The film follows her journey from youth to old age, examining how beauty, novelty, and presence shift over time, but always keeping her at a distance from the life she wishes to grasp.
First Impressions
This is the epitome of an art house film because it is not a narrative-driven story in the traditional sense. Instead, Parthenope unfolds like a dream—fleeting, ephemeral, and resistant to easy interpretation. It’s filmed primarily in Italian with subtitles, aside from a handful of English-language scenes involving an American character. For non-Italian speakers, one of its challenges will likely be keeping up with the subtitles. In addition to the screen imagery, the actress playing Parthenope is so striking that she commands every scene, making it difficult to balance watching her with following the subtitles. Yet, this might be intentional.
The film dares you to give in to its visuals, letting the dialogue slip away in favor of the hypnotic effect of its cinematography.
That said, when the words do matter, they come in key moments that include conversations with the American, whose lines guide Parthenope’s self-awareness, and with the professor, who acts more as a father figure than her actual father. These relationships offer glimpses of meaning in an otherwise detached existence, mirroring her own struggle to hold onto something real amid the overwhelming fixation others have with her.
Visually, Parthenope as a film is breathtakin, showing the director’s eye toward crafting every shot to emphasize Parthenope as the film’s artistic centerpiece. This devotion to form over function makes the film a fascinating study in cinematic beauty but also contributes to its sense of distance by making her an object of study more than a compelling character. As a result, the film feels like a ‘lyric poem’ in a visual form that is something to be experienced rather than understood.
The Metaphor of Parthenope
That’s where the metaphor comes into play. The film isn’t just about a woman; it’s about the nature of disruption itself, with Parthenope standing in as the disruptor. In her youth, she is a force of nature—something new, dazzling, and powerful, yet impossible to fully grasp. Her beauty is almost a supernatural phenomenon, unsettling those around her, much like any disruptive force that enters the world before it is fully understood. She does not merely exist within the world; she bends it around her, affecting lives in ways she never intended.
However, as she ages, her disruptive nature feels like a welcome transformation. While she is no longer the most beautiful or the most novel woman, she remains compelling and the impact of her presence shifts from a force that shatters to one that steadies the world around her. In this way, the film isn’t just about her, it’s about how all great disruptions eventually stabilize, folding into the fabric of the world until they become part of the very systems they once unsettled.
Her later role as an anthropologist studying the impact of miracles is no accident. It is a reflection of her own journey, which was once perceived as miraculous herself, she now seeks to understand the very forces she once embodied. She becomes the observer rather than the catalyst, a witness to disruption rather than its cause, and the teacher instead of the student. This shift mirrors how society absorbs and normalizes what once seemed extraordinary, whether it be a miracle, a groundbreaking technology, a revolutionary idea, or even love itself.
Metaphorical Interpretations
And that’s what makes Parthenope such an evocative meditation on change. That’s what makes it a metaphor. The film’s structure invites different interpretations, each threading through this same cycle of disruption and stability. One interesting lens is technology, more specifically, artificial intelligence. AI is, in many ways, the Parthenope of our time: dazzling, disruptive, and consuming everything in its wake. The world is obsessed with it, trying to harness its power without fully understanding it. Like Parthenope in her youth, AI does not truly understand us either. It merely exists, affecting everything around it without deeply connecting. But one day, AI too will age. It will become commonplace, woven into our daily lives, no longer a disruptor but a tool … just as Parthenope transitions from an unknowable force of nature to an academic who studies the very mystery she once represented.
Alternatively, Parthenope could be a meditation on love, the kind of all-consuming, overwhelming passion that takes over one’s life. In its early stages, love is intoxicating, disrupting everything, but as time passes, it evolves into something steadier, more knowing, but perhaps less earth-shattering. The film allows for this kind of interpretation, encouraging viewers to project their own meaning onto its structure and to explore any number of concepts and topics through its form as a metaphor.
Where the Film Falls Short
Despite all of this, Parthenope suffers from one major flaw: its length. Clocking in at well over two hours, it lingers longer than it necessary. The director could have easily trimmed 30 minutes while maintaining the same hypnotic effect. The film isn’t disjointed, but it does meander. At times, it feels like the director was so in love with the imagery, and so captivated by Parthenope herself, that he couldn’t cut even a single scene. This indulgence results in a film that, while visually mesmerizing, can feel repetitive and a bit exhausting.
And that’s where the frustration lies. Watching Parthenope, you keep waiting for a narrative payoff that never arrives. It is a story form without a story function. As a result, it is just a frame for a metaphor rather than a complete story, which leaves the feeling of confusion and dissatisfaction alongside the feelings of visual delight. While some viewers will revel in this kind of artistic abstraction, others will leave the theater unsure about what they just watched or why.
Recommendation
Parthenope is not for everyone. Those who love art house cinema, films designed as intellectual puzzles, and visually driven storytelling that defy traditional narratives will likely see Parthenope as cinematic brain candy. The metaphor is compelling, and the cinematography is stunning. Plus, the film provides plenty of room for interpretation, but for those who prefer clear narratives and coherent character arcs, this will likely be a frustrating experience. It’s beautiful, but it’s elusive, much like Parthenope herself.
If you go into Parthenope expecting a traditional story, you will be disappointed. If you view it as an experience—something to be felt rather than fully understood—you might just walk away mesmerized, even if you can’t quite explain why.
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