The film had its world premiere at the Midnight Screenings section of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival on 21 May, where it competed for the Queer Palm. It won the Best Director award at the 2026 Fantastic Fest. It will be released theatrically in France by Condor Distribution on 23 December 2026.
Premise
In 1982, Eddie, a French actress on the verge of collapse, goes to Rome to shoot a science-fiction film that may also be her last one.
Bertrand Mandico wrote and directed the film, a co-production between France's Atelier de Production and Italy's Redibis Film and Dugong Films, in collaboration with Rai Cinema and with support from the Italian Ministry of Culture. In December 2023, it was reported that the film had been granted €25.000 in funding from CNC's commission for assistance for the co-development and co-production of Franco-Italian cinematographic and audiovisual works. On 19 May 2024, producers Thomas and Mathieu Verhaeghe told French magazine Le Film français that they were going to produce the film.
On 28 May 2025, Variety reported that the film's plot details are being kept under wraps, and Cinecittà's CEO Manuela Cacciamani announced during a press conference that Roma elastica "is a tribute to some of the great masters and legends of Italian cinema."
Mandico's frequent collaborator Nicolas Eveilleau serves as director of photography. The costumes were designed by Pauline Jacquard. The score was composed by Pierre Desprats.
In July 2025, Cinecittà's website added Agnese Claisse, Milutin Dapcevic, Zlatko Burić, Josephine Thiesen, Michele Bravi, Alessio Gallo, Ondina Quadri, Tea Falco, Coco Labbée, Michelangelo Dalisi, Toni Pandolfo, Christophe Bier, Martina La Manna, Simone Zambelli, PierGiuseppe Di Tanno, and Maziar Firouzi to the ensemble, while Rohrwacher was no longer in the cast.
Filming
Filming was originally scheduled to begin in January 2025, but it was later postponed to the end of May 2025. Filming took place in Nice and La Gaude in France, and at Cinecittà studios in Rome, Italy. Shooting began on 26 May 2025, and wrapped on 18 June 2025.
French cinematographer Nicholas Eveilleau shot the production in 35mm film.
Release
The film had its world premiere at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival in the Midnight Screenings section on 21 May. It will be released theatrically in France by Condor Distribution on 23 December. Europictures will release the film in Italy. The film made its North American premiere in main competition at the Fantastic Fest on 18 September 2026, where it won the award for Best Director. Rapid Eye Movies will release the film in Germany on 11 March 2027.
Reception
Critical response
Amber Wilkinson of Screen International wrote: "Mandico's excess all areas approach may not be for everyone but Marion Cotillard's fully committed performance at the heart of Roma Elastica has just about enough magnetism to pull the film back from the unruly brink."
Martin Kudlac of ScreenAnarchy wrote that Roma Elastica "is a cinephile phantasmagoria that, despite Mandico's deliriously transgressive "incoherent" style and strange humor, turns out to be fairly accessible, even to non-Mandico aficionados."
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