Dennis Iliadis mixes a dash of Greek Weird Wave with copycat horror to get his spot in competition at Tallinn’s Black Nights Film Festival
Ever wondered what kind of film would have been created if Yorgos Lanthimos had attempted to shoot Get Out? Then all you need to do is watch Buzzheart the inclusion of which in the official competition of Tallinn’s Black Nights Film Festival feels as if the program coordinators had tried to find their own edition of the Greek director and Jordan Peele’s Sundance success combined. Which isn’t to say the Dennis Iliadis came in any way close to either of the two directors his bizarre blend of horror, psychological thriller and crime mystery eagerly emulates and evokes. At best it seems itself like an eccentric experiment.
Though far es uncomfortable as the ones imposed on the unwitting protagonist. Argyris (Claudio Kaya, looking much older) is barely 18 which is supposed to explain his lack of suspicion when gorgeous masseuse Mary (Konstantina Messini), after adding a happy end to his treatment, invites him to spend the weekend with her parents in their luxurious secluded abode. Right after they arrived she explains to him her jovial father’s George (Giorgos Liantos) and scrutinising mother Sandra’s (Evelina Papoulia) obsession with questionable experiments: “My mother was a brilliant psychologist, behaviourism and neural science.” While Mary’s grandfather could conduct all kinds of unethical experiments, today, she complains: “even lab rats can sue”.
Except When they are as clueless and easy to seduce into compliance as Argyris who isn’t alarmed by his hosts’ having framed photos and even props of Harry Harlow’s cruel studies. Everyone who wants some nightmare fuel as compensation for the lack of chills on screen can read up on the US-American behavioural scientist’s abhorrent deprivation and dependency trials on infant rhesus monkeys. To one of these the main character is repeatedly linked as he undergoes a series of increasingly intrusive and dangerous tests to please the parents of his crush. Her own role in the strange scheme is repeatedly redefined since Iliadis obviously didn’t know where to take his appropriated premise.
It could have been entertaining if the clumsy exposition wouldn’t prevent discovering oneself what’s going on. But the stylised dialogues are hell-bent on clarifying everything, from Argyris’ deceived view (“We come to love, not by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person as perfect.”) to her chance for liberation (“Only the liberation of the natural capacity for love in human beings can master their sadistic destructiveness.”). Narrative plunges into the oddness of Greek Weird Wave cinema serve simply as trendy concealment of dramatic flaws and awkward acting. The comedy elements promised on the festival’s film page aren’t missing – here they are only unintended.
- OT: Buzzheart
- Director: Dennis Iliadis
- Screenplay: Dennis Iliadis
- Year: 2024
- Distribution | Production © Spentzos
