The kidnapping of Arabella
Movies
The story of Il rapimento di Arabella isn’t really about a kidnapping in the usual sense, despite what the title suggests. It’s mostly about a girl finding her own way to fix the past, make peace with regrets, quiet anxiety about the future, and let go of unmet expectations.
The main character, Holly, belongs to a group of people—or perhaps a generation—afraid that life is always happening somewhere else. Like when we were children, imagining a thousand possible lives, even if we’d probably only live one. But thinking like that as adults devalues reality; it distracts from the real world, its meaning, its beauty, its injustices, and our own role in it all.
Although Il rapimento di Arabella feels somewhat like a comedy, it began with serious reflections I found on Reddit and other online forums, as well as everyday feelings of my own. That’s why I wrote this story—it seemed like something many people could relate to, or at least recognise.
Carolina Cavalli