In a village in the Greek countryside, 55-year-old patriarch Takis (Akyllas Karazisis) and his long-suffering wife Eleni (Maria Kallimani) have been fighting with their loud-mouth neighbour, who is laying claim to part of the family’s land. As Takis prepares for the opening of his new butcher shop, decades of accumulated tensions between the two foes bubble to the surface. On one explosive night, the neighbour is killed by Takis’s only son Pavlos (Pavlos Iordanopoulos), a fumbling and hotheaded overgrown child. The only witness to this carnal crime is Christos (Kostas Nikouli), a handsome and hardworking young man from Albania, whom Takis has employed — and in many ways raised — since adolescence. The murderer and the eyewitness initially bury the evidence of the brutal act, but as rumours swirl and a killer must be named, the truth begins to take many forms. Soon, Takis must face the reality of choosing the fate of both young men.

Meat is a gripping and fast-paced feature debut by writer-director Dimitris Nakos, who expertly weaves a tale of power dynamics of historic proportions. Cinematographer Giorgos Valsamis’ lens captures the underbelly of a family that had long ago learned to suppress both feelings and secrets. Like crabs crawling out of a bucket, the men grapple to come out on top, unaware that their futile attempts at dominance will only suppress and crush each other’s survival. Rooted in ancient Greek tragedy, Meat explores the depths of crime, punishment, betrayal, and much, much more.

DOROTA LECH

Content advisory: violence