Miss Violence (2013)

An unnerving story about a horrid family drama kept behind closed doors, and an elaborate facade where appearances can be deceiving, and nothing is as it seems.

Director:

Alexandros Avranas

Writers:

Alexandros Avranas, Kostas Peroulis

Stars:

Themis Panou, Reni Pittaki, Eleni Roussinou

9 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Themis Panou	...	Father
Reni Pittaki	...	Mother
Eleni Roussinou	...	Eleni
Sissy Toumasi	...	Myrto
Kalliopi Zontanou	...	Alkmini
Constantinos Athanasiades	...	Philippos (as Konstantinos Athanasiades)
Chloe Bolota	...	Angeliki
Maria Skoula	...	Social Welfare lady
Nikos Hatzopoulos	...	Friend
Minas Hatzisavvas	...	Second Friend
Kostas Antalopoulos	...	Social Welfare Sir
Maria Kallimani	...	School Teacher
Vaso Iatropoulou	...	School Director
Stefanos Kosmidis	...	Company Executive
Christos Loulis	...	Man in Public Toilettes

Storyline

It's Aggeliki's eleventh birthday, and a well-organised party is held in her honour. All the ingredients of a usual birthday gathering are here: a scrumptious sugar-glazed cake, cheerful music, and the warm embrace of a doting grandfather. However, is any of this real, or is this an elaborate facade? Little by little, as a devastating act of despair unfolds before Aggeliki's shocked family, wolves and lambs alike gradually find themselves lured into an elaborate web of hideous secrets, deceptive appearances, and a frantic downward spiral of lies. In the end, as the sinners' blood-curdling evildoings kept behind closed doors unravel, one can't help but plunge into the depths of the human soul, and the unfathomable secrets within.

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Plot Keywords:

two word title | birthday | party | balcony | birthday party | 

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Taglines:

Nothing of what you see is what it seems.

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the director, Alexandros Avranas, the film is based on a true story which is much more violent than what the film depicts.

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Quotes

Father: Next time smile more. Otherwise they won't even screw you for 30 euros.
Myrto: You didn't pay.

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Connections

Referenced in At the Movies: Venice Film Festival 2013 (2013)

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Soundtracks

Lene
Performed by DJ Earth, Stathis Lagoyannis & Shaya
© DJ Earth, Stathis Lagoyannis, Shaya
(P) 2013 My Group under exclusive license to Universal Music SA

User Reviews

Behind closed doors

If I were to rename this film I would call it "behind closed doors", although that's perhaps too much on the nose. Closed doors are a visual leitmotif of the film, creating an atmosphere of increasing anxiety throughout. This psychological thriller should come with multiple content warnings, despite most of its triggering elements being implicit rather than explicitly shown on screen.

A seemingly ordinary and very well-adjusted family (the kinship relations of which are -deliberately- confusing in the first part of the film, until we understand who is who to each other) has to deal with a seemingly unexplained tragic loss of one of its younger members. As we spend more time inside the family home, observing the interactions and dynamics, we grow increasingly uneasy. The clues are everywhere from scene one, but, like in real life sometimes, we treat them with a level of disbelief "could it be...? no way... they're just our nice and polite next door neighbours".

At the technical level, everything works: the performances are all just as understated as the aesthetics of the film require and totally in sync with each other, the photography, the pacing, the editing... I can't find a fault.

Like others have pointed out, the influence of the Greek Weirdwave cinema is present, although the "weirdness" is comparatively rather toned down, with the plainly disturbing elements being dialled up to 11. Let's just say it's not a film you watch if you want to feel better about the world.

Details

Official Sites:

Faliro House Productions [Greece] Plays2place Productions [Greece]

Country:

Greece

Language:

Greek

Release Date:

7 November 2013 (Greece)

Also Known As:

Miss Violence

Filming Locations:

Greece

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$146,830

Company Credits

Production Co:

Faliro House Productions, Plays2place Productions, Greek Film Center

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (Dolby 5.1)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1