Two Women

The events unfold in the late war years, with Rome under siege and German occupation shaping daily life. The journey between city and countryside maps a civilian experience of fear, hunger and resilience as fronts move and liberation approaches in 1944. The period conditions every moral choice, violence, and moment of quiet endurance the characters endure.

The story begins in bombed-out Rome during World War II and moves to Ciociaria, a rugged, mountainous province in central Italy. Rome represents urban destruction and the urgency of evacuation, while Ciociaria offers a harsh but intimate landscape of hills, villages and roadside stores that frame the family's struggle. The shifting setting underscores civilian vulnerability, displacement, and the need to rely on local networks to survive.

💔 Trauma

The film centers on the traumas of war, especially the sexual violence Rosetta endures, and the long-term impact on both mother and daughter. It examines how memory and guilt distort perception and complicate relationships long after the events. Through Cesira and Rosetta, the narrative shows how violence fractures innocence and echoes through a family.

👩‍👧 Motherhood

Cesira is a widowed, devout shopkeeper who must shield her daughter at all costs. The story follows her relentless pragmatism, sacrifices, and moral compromises in order to protect Rosetta and keep them alive. The bond between mother and daughter reveals both fierce love and the heavy cost of survival in wartime.

🪖 War & Civilians

The narrative portrays civilians living under occupation, facing bombings, upheaval, and violence at the hands of soldiers from different sides. Displacement, hunger, and fear structure daily life and decisions more than battlefield triumphs. The war becomes a backdrop that relentlessly tests endurance and humanity.

🌹 Coming of Age

Rosetta’s adolescence is thrust into adulthood by trauma, reshaping her sense of self and the relationship with her mother. The process of growing up under such brutal conditions is marked by confusion, fear, and a painful loss of innocence. The film follows her struggle to reclaim a normal self amid war’s distortions.