SCREEN BITE: La Chimera is an interesting, if sluggishly paced (particularly at the start) film with some humorous moments and character relationships, a ragtag crew of grave-robbers, a mismatched romance subplot with a tone-deaf aspiring singer, wondrously shot exteriors and artifacts, touches of the museum world, and loads of yearning. It’s almost as if Italo Calvino’s If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler were crossed with a heist/treasure-hunting adventure story, a drama, and an offbeat romantic comedy like 2010’s Wild Target. Although the characters and ‘80s setting seem to largely aim for realism, there’s a current of hazy surrealism as well: interstitial camcorder footage and ballads narrating the protagonist’s journey, character asides to the audience that break the fourth wall, and a weird sort of existential journey to a kind of underworld.

RECOMMENDATION: Watch. The slow pacing and artsy construction will not be for everyone. However, if you’re willing to follow the story until it gains momentum, you may be pleased with its stunning destination.