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
  • li0904426 - 23 December 2023
    Not much content!!!
    The movie "Athena" is a thriller drama centered on three siblings of Algerian-French descent whose lives are turned upside down following the mysterious death of their younger brother, Idir. The alleged involvement of the French Police in his death sparks a rebellion in the Athena district.

    Romain Gavras, the son of renowned director Costa Grava, crafts a movie that is characterized by its overstatements in screenplay, visual design, and musical score. The movie seems to resemble action-packed "Rambo"-style movies more than a deep exploration of Athena's social issues and politics. It appears to lack substantial content. It portrays a scenario where a group of teenagers resort to using fireworks in their confrontation with the police, who in turn appear unprepared, disoriented, and ineffective. On top of all that, the movie's musical score appears to be deliberately composed to evoke the sounds of a Russian armada.
  • JeffDamulira - 24 April 2023
    One of the best intro of film that I have seen this year
    The introduction of the film really galvanized the intensity and excitement of the film, as stated that from 20 to 30 minutes of a movie really sets the tone. If a film starts with a humdrum scene, it can also predict on how mediocre the script or scenes are going to be throughout the film. Although, what separates this french based film to other action themed versions is the unexpected plots of violent protests, corruption from within law enforcement that may have right wing extremists, the conflicting emotions and sensitivity of the victim's family who didn't really seem aloof, but had a fluctuations of intense emotions and intense atmosphere in various scenes.
  • jonny78 - 8 January 2023
    sheesh
    That's literally all I can say to be honest. The film starts racily with an intense initial riot outbreak, and doesn't really let up.

    Technically, it's superb: one of the most stylish films of the year, with insanely skilled camerawork. People often criticise the movie for its lack of a clear social message, and a bad script and plot. The plot was quite good, like a shakesperean tragedy, and the script too, though some moments felt a little bit out of touch with the raw, real, gritty environment of the movie.

    As for the social message, this is where the film shines. It examines the lack of nuance in a society clouded by short shocking clips going viral across media outlets and social media. It is far too common in Hollywood to portray "the good and the bad" in social issue dramas, but here everyone is doused in grey (of varying intensities).

    I found myself, whilst hating some of the characters. Having empathy for them, as they're misguided in the chaotic social climate presented in the film (similar to the one we have right now). It's a must watch, for its complexity and thought-provoking substance.

    8.5/10.

    (would be an 8 but the film was just so stylish)
  • gkats-53365 - 4 December 2022
    Eye candy, lacks realism and fails to dive deeper into the main subject.
    Ten years ago, that might have been a decent movie with "ahead of its time" cinematography. But we are in 2022 and this is nothing new in terms of photography and coloring. It's pretty good visually, but fails miserably to take a deeper look into the actual issue of oppression, racism, social clash, urban rioting, and ultimately, revolution. To me, this film is a lost opportunity to seriously raise awareness about modern society and all that comes and goes and slides under.

    Even in this state of shallowness, It's still a movie worth watching and talking about, as is every movie that encourages non-conformity and uprising. Even more when it's about the role of the police, which is highly controversial, to say the least.
  • boujakhroutyoussra - 2 November 2022
    That kind of ununderstood men ...
    My new favorite movie, not because of the story but because it perfectly depicts a feeling (something like manhood of the new generation of north africans or just what it feels like to be born in such environment) that doesn't exist in any other movie and that very few people in the world know about; actually most won't ever be able to understand it. And besides the the great cinematics, filming and music (especially the first scene, i am sure no other music in the world could fit better), the movie feels like a book of four or five coherent chapters which makes you feel like you memorize every scene and can reproduce it in your mind. It's perfectly put together and has no repetition, every fact is mentionned once.

    And If you knew little about that kind of the people, you would know that the acting and the scenario are mistake-free. I never tought one movie could describe the amount of inner energy and mixed extreme feelings inside that kind of boys that they never talk about but somehow transmit it between them like a brotherhood link; and i am amazed by how they made a lot of people get into it at the same time with every thing they got, their looks, hand gestures and even the walk.
  • kristijonas-96778 - 14 October 2022
    Why did i waste my time?
    Excellent camera work and really nice cinematography, but completely empty and shallow movie. Completely lacks of any story value and there are a lot of scenes and a ton of action is happening, but nothing goes deep enough. The back story is a typical story with a typical roots of one of nutorious France no-go zones. Acting ia adequate and scenes were created by some very skilled artists, but... After maximum of 20mins you start looking at your phone as theres very little else to do and due to the shallowness of the story - it gets borint pretty quick. Once again, beautiful cinematography, yet the movie itself is of no quality other than cinematography...