Pompei: Below the Clouds

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Pompei: Below the Clouds

Mar 2026

1h 55m

Documentary

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98%

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44 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

From award-winning filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi comes Pompei: Below the Clouds, a striking portrait of life in Naples, a city living in the shadow of Vesuvius. Beneath the quiet threat of eruption, people go about their days: archaeologists unearth the past, children learn as the earth hums, firefighters wait for the next call. The result is a portrait at once local and universal: a reflection on humanity's capacity to live, love, and rebuild in the shadow of the unimaginable.

Critics Consensus

Guided by Gianfranco Rosi's eloquent directorial hand, Pompei: Below the Clouds captures life in a fragile, volcano-shadowed city with a deeply evocative, surprisingly hopeful cinematic mosaic.

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Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

Mar 30, 2026

Below the Clouds is a rewarding, wryly funny mosaic of a turbulent city, flanked by volcanoes and rich with stories.

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David Jenkins

Little White Lies

Mar 28, 2026

3/5

The film is ambling, gentle and doesn’t strain too hard to force a point, but allows you to appreciate the multifarious nature of life in a city where the spectre of destruction lurks ominously in the clouds.

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

Mar 26, 2026

4.5/5

Taking its cues from those ancient remains, Rosi’s deserving Special Prize winner at Venice gifts us a pristine, durable snapshot of Naples.

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André Didyme-Dôme

Rolling Stone en Español

Aug 20, 2026

The same landscape that produced one of the greatest tragedies of antiquity also gave rise to one of the most vibrant cultures of the Mediterranean. [Full review in Spanish]

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Sarah Vincent

Sarah G Vincent Views

May 25, 2026

if you enjoy experimental films, have time to give it your complete attention without interruptions, are not easily distracted, keep your phone far away and prepare to enjoy this undeniably visually stunning film.

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Glenn Dunks

reDocumented

May 13, 2026

Together, they amplify the way this city is, to quote one of its subjects, "suspended in time". A city not quite able to emerge out of the destruction of its histories—both natural and human.

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Amy K

@amargaret Jul 22, 2026

This b&w meditation on the past, present and future of the Naples region is like a layered buffet. It is a love poem to the complexities of what it means to live literally on top of past civilizations that were covered up and are now lovingly being excavated and often pilfered. And there is this overarching tension that Vesuvius could yet again attempt to destroy the good, the bad and the ugly.

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Tom F

@RT55173143 Jun 22, 2026

As a devoted documentary nerd I appreciate everything going on here, but it doesn’t really come together in a satisfying way.

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Leprechaun K

@LeprechaunKing Apr 5, 2026

It is visually stunning. As a documentary, it fails in everyway. It gives little to no information on the subject matter. This is the 6th or 7th MUBI original I've watched and every single one is horrible. The movie industry is dying and originals like this is adding to the cause.

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virginia S

@Ginny72 Apr 4, 2026

Beautifully filmed, but painfully slow and often repetitive. (And this from a person who has visited Pompeii and the surrounding area several times.)

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Marvin B.

@princedoc44 Mar 16, 2026

I didn’t particularly care for this movie. I was expecting a movie about how the neopolitans live under the threat of Vesuvius. What you get if a lot of scenes with no explanations and no connections. This movie missed on many levels.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Mar 7, 2026

The worldwide gross is $219,560.00.

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Gianfranco Rosi

Director

Gianfranco Rosi

Writer

Gianfranco Rosi

Cinematographer

Gianfranco Rosi

Film Editor

Fabrizio Federico

Film Editor

Donatella Palermo

Producer

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Synopsis

From award-winning filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi comes Pompei: Below the Clouds, a striking portrait of life in Naples, a city living in the shadow of Vesuvius. Beneath the quiet threat of eruption, people go about their days: archaeologists unearth the past, children learn as the earth hums, firefighters wait for the next call. The result is a portrait at once local and universal: a reflection on humanity's capacity to live, love, and rebuild in the shadow of the unimaginable.

Director: Gianfranco Rosi
Producer: Donatella Palermo, Gianfranco Rosi, Paolo Del Brocco
Screenwriter: Gianfranco Rosi, Gianfranco Rosi
Distributor: MUBI
Production Co: RAI Cinema, 21uno Film, Stemal Entertainment
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Italian
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 6, 2026, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA): $52.3K
Runtime: 1h 55m

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