Athena

Athena

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

  • Released: 2022-09-09
  • Runtime: 97 minutes
  • Genre: Action, Drama, Thrillers
  • Stars: Dali Benssalah, Anthony Bajon, Alexis Manenti, Ouassini Embarek, Sami Slimane, Radostina Rogliano, Karim Lasmi, Mehdi Abdelhakmi, Tarek Haddaji, Guy Donald Koukissa, Birane Ba, Sophie-Marie Larrouy
  • Director: Romain Gavras
 Comments
  • athanasiosze - 12 September 2023
    7.2/10. Recommended
    First of all, regardless my opinion about the movie itself, i congratulate Gavras because this theme/subject is extremely difficult to handle. This is a very sensitive topic. I believe he did an excellent job because he didn't choose any side. On the contrary, he kept his distance. But simultaneously, there is emotion in this movie, not just a clinical observation.

    Now, this movie at times, is a masterpiece. These one shot sequences are breathtaking. I sense that pure action movies are not his thing, but, he must consider it. Imagine an action movie with action scenes like that. Something like EXTRACTION 2, oh, this would be epic because Gavras could combine action and quality.

    I didn't rate it higher because there are some flaws here. I think he didn't know how to end this. The ending is kinda nervous. Not a bad ending, but it doesn't fit artistically with the rest of the movie. It's a bit..predictable i think. Both the building scenes and the wood scenes are not that good. Gavras took the easy path. He should delve a bit deeper.

    I didn't love the final 15-20 minutes, i mean, what happened after a shocking event.

    Still, this is a good movie, exciting at times. Action was great. Drama was great too, all the emotional conflict.

    Last bit not least, the actors. They were AMAZING. I hope their career to be successful.
  • kvronti - 3 March 2023
    Monumental
    I had put this film off for a long time but now after seeing it I truly understand why it was so much talked about and the publicity it has received. It's one of the best films made since the film 1917, original in its making and to its plot. So true to the structure of society when it comes to riots against the system, the police cruelty, and to the fight against racism, to anger, to violence, to corruption and the demand for justice. Looking forward to seeing more of Gavras filmmaking as he really shows a whole different angle in shooting and directing by putting the message out there for social justice, for humanity, anti racism, minority, marginalization, religion and culture.
  • Drawmort - 28 December 2022
    Brutal, raw, intense. Eternal love for sequence shots.
    Brutal story of a group of very different brothers who try to deal with the death of their youngest, unleashing great consequences along the way.

    To begin, I want to highlight the impressive sequence shots of this film. A camera game in almost perfect direction, editing and choreography. It's what raises the bar for an already complex, emotional and heartbreaking story. The performances are also impeccable. The protagonists have a performance very close to the limit of their capacities that contributes to the high tension the film exhibits almost in its entirety.

    It's not a movie for everyone. You must have the mental and emotional capacity to endure the story, the actions and the outcome of the brothers.

    This French film is among the best of foreign cinema this year and surely also in the top 20 of 2022.

    If I don't convince you to see it with this review, it's because you are not a movie lover.
  • carlota_campos - 28 November 2022
    It is okay
    I think is a nice movie to see when you just want to be entertained.

    It has good visuals, a lot of "one takes" and constant movement, which brings you almost to the scene itself. It is not everyone's cup of tea.

    The soundtrack it is quite impressive, and a little "unexpected" to this kind of movies/scenarios. It is one of the strenghts of this movie.

    In the other end, the movie lacks meaning and purpose. You don't really connect with the charaters, the script it is not good, the story it is quite a mess.

    The 3 "main characters" from the movie are brothers but you don't see any true connection/dialogues/engagment with them.

    The acting is okay, but there was a lot of potential misused.
  • EdeBorrett - 26 October 2022
    Well Worth Watching
    I'm not sure if "enjoyable" is really the right word for this film but it is very well worth watching, albeit that I found absolutely none of the characters sympathetic - strangely the nearest to that description is the drug supplier!

    It is beautifully and excellently acted from a first class script. And although there are some HUGE plot holes the storyline moves along fast enough for these to quickly be forgotten (very annoying that they are).

    So why not ten stars? For all of its good points the directing is often just plain amateurish and the overuse, even when it really isn't necessary, of a handheld camera is annoying, to say the least. I know that handheld cameras are supposed to add some sort of 'realism' but they rarely do and in most cases, as I suspect here, they are simply a way of keeping costs down to increase profit.

    My recommendation is bear with the poor direction and bad camerawork (NB not the cameraman's fault) because overall the film IS worth watching. (Even if I thought Travolta's opening speech in 'Swordfish' was relevant to the police here!)
  • waarisbasdan - 10 October 2022
    What a crew! And what a movie....!
    Incredible craftsmanships of every cast member in this sublime tragedy. Not only because of the choreography of the camera that is being operated by true heroes that find themselves in the fire of the battles, but also because of the extras in the shot that give an incredible realistic performance and show us the complete spectrum of emotions of hate and fear in the miss of a local warzone. A war of hate against authority that starts with the death of a kid. It is assumed he has been killed bij the police, and so the neighbourhood reacts in violent behaviour, led by the brother of the killed boy. Our tragedy is complete when tree other brothers get caught up in the battle as well. The long shots deserve credits for making this movie very special and they make the viewer feel as if the are caught up in the riots just the same! Well done!! The making of is worth the view on YouTube.