Part of Teenage Wasteland
A controlling, manipulative father (Christos Stergioglou) locks his three offspring in a state of perpetual childhood by keeping them prisoner within the sprawling family compound. To assuage their boredom, the children entertain themselves with endurance games — such as holding their hands under scalding hot water and assessing who can go the longest without breathing underwater. In spite of distractions like Christina (Anna Kalaitzidou) — an employee of their father who makes regular visits to sexually service the son (Hristos Passalis) — the kids grow increasingly curious about the outside world and one of them hatches a plan to escape.
“This astonishingly dark, morbidly humorous 2009 feature put Lanthimos on the map, winning the prestigious Prix Un Certain Regard award at the Cannes Film Festival…. Takes ‘helicopter parenting’ to a whole new level.” —Alex Saveliev, Film Threat “Lanthimos has crafted a stunningly provocative and at times witty play on the inspirations that make us who we are. All families live by their own rules, and this drama takes that idea to its perverse and shocking conclusion. Lanthimos films these calamities in a quiet, observational style, with calm colours, subtle camera movements and gentle edits, lending an air of normality to a world that couldn’t be less so.” —Time Out (Apr 20, 2010) “A tense, disturbing, often savagely funny struggle between chaos and control.” —Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club (Jun 24, 2010)
