Two Women (2021): Cast & Plot

Set against the backdrop of World War II, the story follows a widowed shopkeeper, Cesira, and her devoutly religious twelve-year-old daughter, Rosetta, as they navigate the chaos of life in Rome under threat and occupation. When Rome is bombed, mother and daughter flee to Ciociaria, Cesira’s native rural homeland in the hills, hoping to find safety and a sense of normalcy away from the city’s upheaval. In the hours before leaving, Cesira quietly oversees her world for one last time, and a brief, fraught encounter with Giovanni, a married coal dealer in her neighborhood who agrees to watch over her shop in her absence, signals the fragile hinges of trust and survival that thread through their journey.