Arriving in U.S. theaters and on digital platforms on July 18, 2025, Samuel Goldwyn Films has unveiled to us an exclusive clip from the highly anticipated Italian drama “Finally Dawn”(“Finalmente l’alba”).
The film is written and directed by Saverio Costanzo (“My Brilliant Friend”), and features a standout international cast including Lily James, Willem Dafoe, Joe Keery, Rachel Sennott, Alba Rohrwacher, Michele Bravi, and introducing Rebecca Antonaci.
“Finally Dawn” made its world premiere at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, and was acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films for the U.S. not long afterward.
Set in the golden age of 1950s Cinecittà, “Finally Dawn” (“Finalmente l’alba”) stars Rebecca Antonaci in her breakout role alongside the star-studded cast. The film follows Mimosa (Antonaci), a young Roman woman on the verge of becoming engaged, who visits the famed studios for what she expects will be a routine audition as a film extra—only to find herself pulled into a life-changing, surreal night of discovery.
In a statement about the film, Costanzo explains that “Finally Dawn” was born from the image of a young woman looking directly into the camera, as if to question it. “I imagined a journey that lasted one night, a night inside the dream machine,” he said. “I wanted the story to be classical and popular, like a novel of formation in which the protagonist, at the end of a long trial, would come into her own and become a woman.” He describes Mimosa as “a candid girl who accepts her role as an extra in life, then one night finds herself chosen, thrown into a world that doesn’t belong to her.”
The release marks director Saverio Costanzo’s return to feature filmmaking following his acclaimed work on HBO’s “My Brilliant Friend,” and reunites him with frequent collaborator Alba Rohrwacher. “Finally Dawn” blends psychological drama with a portrait of postwar Italian cinema, delivering a story that is both personal and grand in scope.
Filmed on location in Rome, the project is both a love letter to Italian cinema and a study of personal awakening in a time of shifting values, spectacle, and identity.
“Finally Dawn” will be released in the U.S. by Samuel Goldwyn Films on July 18, 2025. We have an exclusive clip available now for viewing.
Edward Davis is a senior film journalist and longtime contributor to The Playlist. Davis covers the full breadth of cinema — from major studio releases to independent and international film.
