The Antiquarian

Set in 1924 Egypt during the great age of archaeological excavation — the year after Howard Carter opened Tutankhamun's tomb — The Antiquarian follows Leah Ashford, 30, a British-Israeli antiquarian (a specialist in ancient objects and their contexts) who has arranged and funded an expedition to a site in the Valley of the Kings under the official leadership of Lord Pemberton while actually directing every decision herself. The social conventions of 1924 British Egypt require her to be invisible in the official record; the expedition's success requires her to be in control of it. The film is an adventure romance in the tradition of the great adventure films, with full period visual language — sand, silk, lantern-light, the specific heat of Egyptian noon — and an emotional core about a woman who has spent her entire career building other people's discoveries. Her relationship with Egyptian archaeologist Dr. Karim Nasser — the expedition's local expert and the only person who knows exactly who is actually running this excavation — is the film's central romance.

Story added by mr95 on August 22, 2026