There are several cinematic movements that are still unfolding as we speak, with one of the most exciting and unique being the Greek Weird Wave, formed by filmmakers originating in Athens and other urban metropoles around the country, crafting films that are deeply unnerving and often take place in more peculiar, off-the-wall versions of reality. They tend to oscillate between outrageously absurd and profoundly unsettling and usually contain commentary that speaks to the current cultural and political status of their country, sometimes even extending into surrounding cultures in a few rare instances. Christos Nikou is a relatively recent addition to this canon of cinematic voices, perhaps even being part of a second-generation of filmmakers, considering his emergence as a director comes years after the peak of the movement. Still, he has already established himself as an essential voice, and someone with a vision that can easily crossover into a range of genres and stories, as evident in last year’s masterful Fingernails, a simple but evocative blend of speculative fiction and romantic comedy. We see most of these traits being present in his earlier work, including his short films as well as the subject of today’s conversation, the delightful and irreverent Apples (Greek: Μήλα), in which we follow a few weeks in the life of Aris, a mild-mannered man who blends into his surroundings, but after being infected with a mysterious condition sweeping over the country in which people begin to lose their memories and fall into a state of amnesia, he becomes a participant in a study that will hopefully aid in curbing the spread of this peculiar condition. A fascinating film crafted by a director with a distinctly original view, and driven by the desire to unearth the secrets beneath the surface of the human condition, Apples proves to be one of the most original and ambitious debuts in recent years, and an excellent entry into the growing canon of remarkable films formed under this unique and daring cinematic movement.

Apples were made at quite a peculiar time in the culture since its subject matter seemed oddly prescient in regard to the global crisis at came about around the same time. Much like the characters at the heart of the film, viewers were ensconced in a pandemic that arrived without warning and essentially plunged us all into a state of panic and confusion, and this film’s more abstract approach to a similar set of themes did not help soften the blow. Nikou did not design this film with the existing situation in mind, since it is unlikely that there was any overlap between them, but it’s still quite fascinating to look at this film and how it explores several themes that have taken on a new meaning in recent years. Apples is more than just a darkly comedic satire, but rather a dense and complex character study about lonely individuals trying to find a place in a world that has changed beyond the point of being recognizable, which is something to which I believe many of us can relate. What this film is attempting to say, albeit through the approach of taking us through a labyrinthine series of moments that don’t quite come together in the way we would expect, is that loneliness is the true pandemic, a condition that afflicts several different people, creating a situation where one begins to forget their own identity and instead simply fade into the background as some kind of barely-existent entity, making their way through the world in a manner that is decidedly unsettling but also quite compelling, since the use of allegory is very strong and creates a sense of complexity that we are invited to engage with, hopefully being able to understand some of the more offbeat themes that drive this otherwise challenging film that benefits from quite a distinctly daring director at the helm.

Considering the promising themes nestled at the heart of Apples, Nikou needed to ensure that every decision he made paid tribute to these ambitious ideas, as well as the many films and artworks that ultimately inspired him to conceive of this idea, putting some bizarre concepts into practice. The tone this film takes is perhaps its most alluring quality – it is quite a challenging film, in the sense that it doesn’t quite lend itself to easy interpretation, and instead revolves around plunging the viewer into this off-kilter version of reality and gradually observing our attempts to make sense of the ideas that begin to coagulate around us, which is a common trait of the Greek New Wave, and something that the director assimilates into this film. There is a level of stoicism that lingers over this film, almost to the point where it becomes so deadpan that we begin to wonder if those moments of humour are intentional, or simply the result of the harsh, cutting nature of the story reaching a point at which it had no choice but to surrender to the absurdity of the situation. The fact that we can never quite tell if Apples is supposed to be a bleak, miserabilist comedy, or simply an off-kilter dramatic character piece is one of the many mysteries that simmer throughout the film, its nihilistic worldview certainly be appreciated by those with a penchant for the absurd and inexplicable. There are genuinely many funny moments, but they exist in a more ambigious space where they don’t necessarily elicit even the slightest chuckle, but rather point towards the chaotic and unsettling alternate reality that the director presents to the viewer, one that is increasingly more absurd and unconventional, and defined by this lingering sense of irony that is layered quite heavily in a number of the film’s more challenging moments.

Apples is a film in which the answers are not provided, and even trying to understand the question being asked can come across as slightly impossible, considering the extent of the material being explored and how Nikou explores it throughout the film. Thematically and in terms of tone, the film is a major achievement, but it’s only in the approach the director takes to bringing all these ideas together through the precise, razor-sharp execution that informs the film, both narratively and visually. The use of muted colours and bright tones is an interesting choice, as is the minimalistic score that creates an enigmatic environment that the viewer is invited to explore, but with the caveat that the more we attempt to understand this film, the less we may comprehend, one of the many delightful ironies that exist throughout the film. The performances don’t help clarify any of these ideas, especially not the exceptional Aris Servetalis, who commits wholeheartedly to playing the protagonist, a man so painfully ordinary that we often even forget to take notice of him when he appears on screen, disappearing into a part that is defined by its profound mediocrity and inability to stand out as anything other than a thinly-constructed archetype designed to represent the legions of unremarkable individuals whose stories are rarely told, primarily because their dullness prevents them from leading even the most vaguely interesting lives. We realize very soon in our journey with Apples that this is not a film striving to make sense, and we are encouraged not to expend all of our time and energy attempting to understand what the film is attempting to convey and are instead better served just surrendering to the madness and allowing these fascinating ideas to work their way into our minds in an organic manner.

As can be expected, Apples is an acquired taste – at its most simple, it is still a challenging, off-kilter dark comedy that is extremely bleak and doesn’t always intend to clarify its intentions, which can lead to allegations that it is needlessly dense and perhaps even impenetrable. Nikou was not intending to play to the rafters with this film, and he was entirely aware of what he was doing with this material, which was crafting an unconventional glimpse into the human condition, using a very simple allegory as the underlying motif to guide the story (and where real-world events only aided in elevating the material to be more resonant), and then allowing it to fester into this dense, unnerving examination of loneliness and the difficulties that come to those who are driven to seek out ways to resolve something that is a psychological epidemic, a trait of contemporary human existence for which there isn’t any cure, the only remedy being to reinvent oneself to fit in, or surrendering to the realization that being unique is not always a positive trait if one isn’t able to handle the challenges that accompany marching to the beat of their drum. Beautifully made, with Nikou’s eye for detail and ability to craft some of the most unforgettable visual compositions being the source of a number of the film’s most engaging moments. Daring and strange, Apples earns its reputation as quite an unsettling comedy, and its willingness to instil a sense of awkwardness and discomfort is an unconventional merit that conveys the underlying message and allows the film to flourish into an engaging and critical satire of contemporary life, something that is perceived in a manner decidedly more strange than anything we may have initially expected from this material.