Fonissa

Eva Nathena's 2023 Greek film is adapted from the classic novel by Alexandros Papadiamantis. It is set on a Greek island at the start of the twentieth century. Hadoula, widowed young, has seen how a woman's life is determined from the moment she is born, and that knowledge has brought her to a terrible conclusion. The film keeps the novel's moral question: is what Hadoula does murder, or a rescue within her own logic. The narrative gives no answer and neither vindicates her nor makes a monster of her. Karyofyllia Karabeti's performance is the centre. The visual language is dark and heavy; the island is filmed not as beauty but as enclosure. It drew large audiences in Greece and became one of the country's most-watched domestic films of recent years. Who it's for: those who like literary adaptations and dark period drama. Who it's not for: viewers who want to avoid narratives involving violence against children; that stands at the film's centre.