In Greek mythology, the Chimera was a fire-breathing monster with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon. The term has become shorthand for any creature that is made up of the parts of different animals as well as a term referring to something hoped for that can never be obtained. While writer/director Alice Rohrwacher’s new film, La Chimera, was probably going for that latter meaning, its the former that seems more The apropos. At times it’s a character study, a crime caper, a romance, a comedy, an argument for feminist collectivism, and a mediation on life and love. In trying to be too many things, however, La Chimera fails to be effective at almost all of them.

Our protagonist/antihero is Arthur (Josh O’Connor, best known to American audiences as Prince Charles in The Crown), a British thief just freed on parole with a gift for finding old graves full of ancient artifacts. He lives in a shack on the outside wall of an Italian city and spends his time pillaging old Etruscan graves with a band of local ne’er-do-wells. He also spends time with Flora (the still-radiant Isabella Rossellini), the mother of an old girlfriend who still haunts Arthur. Flora has a singing “student,” Italia (that name is surely loaded with meaning, but if there was a point, I missed it), whom she exploits for free home labor and who is exploiting her back by secretly keeping her children there. Italia, for reasons which I guess include that Arthur is a man and physically there–he just doesn’t do much other than stand around, be moody, and wear the same dirty clothes all the time–is interested, but Arthur seems to lost in his past. Or is he? When Arthur and his accomplices find a long-hidden tomb, things get a little more interesting. It may be their big score, or just another illusion.

Rohrwacher’s films (including Netflix’s Happy as Lazzaro and last year’s precious Oscar-nominated short Le Pupille) have tended toward a blend of realism and the mystical. This film seemed like a full-bore attempt at both. But you really don’t get the mystical elements for the longest time. By that point, it feels like it’s simply added on as opposed to being an organic part of the film. On top of that, Rohrwacher leans on way too many camera tricks that don’t really advance story or character, but seem to be there because she liked them. For example, for no reason in particular, there’s a Keystone Kops moment where two thieves run away from two cops for like ten seconds with the picture speeded up as in the old-time shorts. And then it’s done, having served no purpose other than to be cute for a minute. It feels like Rohrwacher wanted something whimsical, but too much of the narrative and O’Connor’s fiercely internal performance is just too depressing for that. And, when we reach a climax where it seems the protagonist is learning an important lesson about life, but then…not so much. And we get an ending that goes full metaphysical that, while the seeds were planted throughout, still feels unearned.

Had Rohrwacher chosen the serious or the whimsical, the movie may have worked. By trying to be both of those things alternatingly throughout, it really fails to be either. Which is a shame. La Chimera seemed like it had potential to be better. Sometimes filmmakers just need to get out of their own way.

La Chimera does not yet have a U.S. release date.