A failed actress (the laser-focused Marina Symeou) leaves Athens to find her hometown overrun with lowlifes. When her childhood friend falls further in with the bad crowd, she completely refuses to do what the title says. It takes some major stones in a movie like this to name your protagonist Antigone, but the writer-director and his star thankfully don’t stop there, melding together Greek myth, small-town Von Trier realism, and even some spaghetti western elements—that train station!—with results both alarming and mordantly funny. (The last bit of voice-over narration is one for the ages.) Hypnotic from the get-go, and compulsively nasty soon after. (ANDREW WRIGHT)
Standing Aside, Watching plays today at the SIFF Cinema Uptown at 8:30 pm.
Check out the rest of our recommended SIFF films for today right here and our entire film calendar right here.
