When their parents die, Bianca starts to smoke and Tomas is still a virgin. The orphans explore the dangerous streets of adulthood until Bianca finds Maciste, a retired Mr. Universe, and enters his dark mansion in search of a future.
Acting
Rutger Hauer's final haunting performance as decaying Maciste.
Direction
Scherson's confident silences speak louder than dialogue.
Cinematography
Rome's underbelly shot like a fever dream you can't shake.
Director
Alicia Scherson
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Adapted from Roberto Bolaño's unpublished novel 'Una novelita lumpen'—the literary giant's only female protagonist.
Maciste references Italian peplum cinema's Hercules-like strongmen, here rotting in obscurity—Hauer understood the meta-tragedy.
IT
