PITY

A lawyer mourning his comatose wife gets addicted to misery in this quintessentially bleak and absurdist Greek New Wave comedy, from the co-writer of The Lobster and Dogtooth.

His wife in a coma after an accident, a crisply-suited, robotically rigid lawyer (Yannis Drakopoulos, Chevalier, MIFF 2015) becomes hooked on a routine of sadness, willing to do whatever it takes to evoke the pity of others. The lawyer seemingly prides himself on achieving the greatest levels of suffering possible – one of his most cherished pastimes is sobbing uncontrollably.

Co-written with Yorgos Lanthimos’ key collaborator Efthymis Filippou (The Killing of a Sacred Deer, MIFF 2017; The Lobster, MIFF 2015; Dogtooth, MIFF 2009), Babis Makridis’ (L, MIFF 2012) second feature wields its austere formalism to hilarious, sometimes harrowing effect, examining the hubris of self-absorption and the absurdly manipulative tropes of sentimental cinema. While clearly adjacent to Lanthimos, Makridis more than proves here that he’s coming into his own.

"Through its droll combo of stillness and churning dysfunction, perfectly embodied by Drakopoulos, Pity deconstructs the artifice of feeling and, most wickedly, movie sentimentality." – The Hollywood Reporter