The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea

I can already see the American remake, directed perhaps by David Fincher, (though I would hope they leave well enough alone). "The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea" is a kind of police procedural set in Mesolongi, one of the lesser known parts of Greece and definitely off the tourist trail, that centres on the lives of two women, the female chief of police whose involvement in a terrorist raid in Athens ten years earlier has lead her here, and Rita, who does what menial jobs she can to get by. After a death in the town, their lives intersect.

This Greek movie works both as a dark thriller and as a troubling psychological picture of damaged lives. Both Elisabeth, the police chief, (Angeliki Papoulia), and Rita, (Youla Boudali), have reasons to be fearful and to hate their lives and anyone, on either side of the law, seems like the kind of person you would neither want to know or trust; there is something very unwholesome in Mesolongi. Syllas Tzoumerkas' picture makes the films of Yorgos Lanthimos feel like a walk in the park. This may be the first of his films I've seen but I certainly hope it won't be the last.