The First King

The First King (Il primo re, 2019) is an Italian historical epic directed by Matteo Rovere — watch online on iFILM. Romulus and Remus are shepherd brothers caught in a catastrophic flood of the Tiber. Swept into enemy territory, they become prisoners of a tribe devoted to the goddess Vesta. What begins as survival turns into a contest for power and divine favour.

The film was shot entirely in Proto-Latin, the reconstructed language spoken in ancient Latium around the 8th century BC — the first narrative feature ever made in it. That choice sets the tone: this is not a sandals-and-swords spectacle but something rawer, closer to a war film. Alessandro Borghi and Alessio Lapice play the brothers with a physical intensity that makes their eventual rupture feel inevitable and brutal.

The production took six David di Donatello Awards, including Best Film from the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists. Watch The First King (2019) online on iFILM and see the founding myth stripped back to mud and fire.