News

“The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea” takes place far from the eponymous body of water, and in its actual swampy locale — a glum eel-fishing community in western Greece — miracles are in distinctly short supply. But the title’s metaphorical implications of disorientation and immurement are felt in a stylish, many-stranded mystery that often casts viewers adrift in clashing tides of dark genre convention, nightmarish surrealism and fevered close-up character study. Greek writer-director Syllas Tzoumerkas’ third feature unreels and obscurely entangles the stories of two unconnected women, a dissolute female police chief and an abused eel-factory worker, in murky depths of small-town sin. The fishy stew that results maintains the antic, scratchy energy of Tzoumerkas’s striking 2014 festival favorite “A Blast,” though overplotting muddles its impact.

“Sargasso Sea” is assured further festival play following its premiere in Berlin’s Panorama strand, though it’s a challenging sales prospect: Its commercial fortunes...

The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea

Greek director Syllas Tzoumerkas is finally getting ready to unveil his third feature, The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea in 2019, reuniting with his A Blast actress Aggeliki Papoulia (we interviewed the Lanthimos regular back in 2012 for Alps) and co-writer Youla Boudali for this revenge thriller. The Greek-German-Swedish co-production is produced by his regular collaborator Maria Drandaki of Homemade Films and co-produced by Ellen Havenith of Prpl, Titus Kreyenberg of unafilm and Olle Wirenhed of Dragon Films. Papoulia and Boudali’s co-stars include Christos Passalis, Maria Filini, Argyris Xafis, Thanassis Dovris and Laertis Malkotsis.…...