SFF Film Review: 'Alps'

There’s not a consistent understanding of Greek filmmaker Giorgos Lanthimos’ film Alps other than this: you’ve never seen anything like Alps (aside from Lanthimos’ previous films, if you are familiar with them).

Trying to find a meaning inside the unnerving and absurd film would be like trying to touch your tongue to your elbow.

The concept is intriguing: a group of people who substitute for peoples’ loved ones when they die. But the end result is frustrating, unless unusual and obscure Greek films are up your alley.

The film centers around the nurse (Aggeliki Papoulia) who suggests potential substitute jobs through her work in the ER. She acts as a teenage tennis player for parents that lost their daughter in a terrible car-accident, but fails to mention the job to the strict leader of the group.

Any straying from the plans and any mess-ups are rewarded with intense violence, as made apparent by the young gymnast and newest member of the acting team (Ariane Labed).

The females react to this violence by coming on to the men. It explores themes of inadequacy, loss and grief, violence and acting in a way that suggest philosophical ideas of Freud. The filming is up-close and personal but it is emotionally distant throughout.

Contact Mallory Gnaegy at [email protected].