In Paolo Sorrentino’s “Parthenope,” the title character is constantly asked by the men in her life what she’s thinking. Only a few are actually interested in her thoughts, which Parthenope (Celeste Dalla Porta) rarely reveals anyway. As the actress explained to IndieWire, that’s just one of the ways she never shows her hand.

“Sometimes, as a woman, you find yourself before people that make yourself feel insecure, and Parthenope is like a snake that wiggles out of all of that in very beautiful ways without ever having the feeling that she needs to explain herself,” she said of the film, which premiered in competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

The Naples set coming-of-age drama follows Parthenope over decades — first, as a young woman summering in Capri with her beloved brother Raimondo (Daniele Rienzo) and his best friend Sandrino (Dario Aita) in a sordid, not-so-family-oriented love triangle. The...