This provocative dramedy, fittingly enacted against a backdrop of Beethoven’s spritely “Ode to Joy” and Mozart’s melancholy “Lacrimosa,” follows the character of the Lawyer, who is looking forward to good health, a sound reputation, and great prosperity. A habitude of sadness, however, propels his life of leisure; his wife is in a coma and he enjoys the pity offered by everyone around him. What happens to a man addicted to dejection after he is “filled with happiness” at seeing his wife restored to the very picture of health? Greek Weird Wave director Babis Makridis invited screenwriter Efthimis Filippou (Dogtooth, L, Alps, The Killing of a Sacred Deer) to help him construct a measured drama about powerful emotions.

Jiří Blažek / KVIFF 2018