Film of the Week - Athena

New to the blog, every week I’ll be recommending a movie in relation to the theme of that month’s film festival. Since this month is Films with Subtitles, I’ll be recommending films mostly with subtitles, mainly foreign films! The recommendation for this week is Romain Gavras’ Athena. Think 1917 meets La Haine.

Hours after the tragic death of their youngest brother in unexplained circumstances, three siblings have their lives thrown into chaos.

This film was one of my favorites of last year with its incredible cinematography being the stand out. This film was made to look as if it was completely done in one take, being set in a french housing project taken over by its residents and constantly under siege by the French Police. In fact the first ten minutes is done entirely in one take and might be one of the best sequences I’ve ever seen filmed. It mixes incredible action cinematography with a story heavily inspired by Greek tragedy, externalizing the emotions of a family fractured by current issues. It is a very timely subject matter again given as to what’s going in France right now, and I think art will always be a reflection of the current times.

You can watch Athena on Netflix.