The Cicada (2026): Cast, Story and Release Details

Prepared by Movies Dock Editorial

The Cicada follows Caterina and Yahya, longtime friends who film their surroundings in a small Ligurian town. Their curiosity leads them to a secluded farmhouse and its elderly inhabitant, opening the door to an encounter connected to memory, place and the traces left by an abandoned factory.

The Cicada is a 14-minute Italian short film centered on friendship, curiosity and a landscape marked by its industrial past. Set around Cengio in the Ligurian hinterland, it follows two young people who document the world around them with a camera.

Their exploration takes a more mysterious turn when they discover an isolated farmhouse deep in the woods. The film is scheduled for release on September 26, 2026, and is listed as released in the supplied metadata.

The Cicada movie details

Story without spoilers

Caterina and Yahya have known each other since school. Caterina’s family has deep roots in Cengio, while Yahya comes from a mountain village near Marrakech in Morocco. Together, they spend their afternoons recording forests, rivers, abandoned buildings and the ruins of a factory that once shaped the surrounding community.

While walking through the woods, they come across a secluded farmhouse inhabited by a very old man. Their curiosity brings them back repeatedly, until he eventually invites them inside. The supplied premise establishes this encounter without revealing what follows.

What to expect

The premise points to a compact, observational short built around two friends exploring their surroundings. Its setting combines natural spaces, abandoned architecture and the remains of an industrial site remembered by the local community.

The farmhouse encounter gives the story an element of suspense and discovery, while the characters’ filmmaking connects their personal curiosity with the places they visit. With a runtime of 14 minutes, The Cicada presents its ideas in a brief format rather than as a feature-length narrative.

Cast and creative team

The Cicada is directed by Andrea Grata, Anna Ferrero, Alisha Hoxha, Salma Mahfoud and Anna Pesce. No writers or cast members are listed in the supplied metadata.

Release and production context

The Cicada is a 2026 short film with a listed runtime of 14 minutes. Its release date is September 26, 2026. The supplied metadata identifies Italian as its spoken language but does not provide a country, production company or genre classification.

Movies Dock view

The Cicada offers a focused premise: two friends recording a changing landscape encounter an isolated figure whose home becomes the center of their curiosity. Its short running time and precise setting make the meeting at the farmhouse the key point of interest, while the film’s release details place it among the 2026 short-form releases.

Film data:
TMDB