Your stepmom's sleeping with your brother and framing YOU for murder—Italian Renaissance family therapy!
The beautiful Beatrice Cenci, daughter of the noble Francesco, falls in love with Olimpio. But she has to face the jealousy of his violent and morbid father, and the hostility of his stepmother Lucrezia, who has a relationship with her other stepson, James. The stepmother and stepson-lover plan to kill Francesco. And when the latter dies accidentally, they decide to put the blame on Beatrice and Olimpio.
Cinematography
Shadow-drenched castle interiors that breathe Gothic menace
Costume
Sumptuous Renaissance gowns hiding absolutely rotten souls
Director
Riccardo Freda
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on the real 1599 execution of Beatrice Cenci, a case so infamous that her portrait was rumored to be by Guido Reni and tourists still visit her supposed ghost at Rome's Castel Sant'Angelo.
Freda shot this in three weeks to fulfill a contract obligation, yet the visual richness helped establish the 'peplum' aesthetic that would dominate Italian genre cinema for decades.
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