Alps

This screening has been programmed by Hannah Strong, who will introduce the film.

Back in 2009, Yorgos Lanthimos’s provocative chamber piece Dogtooth become something of a cause célèbre, setting the director on a path of escalating international acclaim. Now, off the back of easily his biggest project to date (the star-studded, hyper-stylised Poor Things) his latest film, the absurdist anthology Kinds of Kindess sees the Greek director operate in a register closer to that of his earlier work. With this in mind, we take a look at the film that sits between Dogtooth and the English language work that has cemented Lanthimos as a bona fide star: 2011’s Alps.

Alps follows a company of performers who impersonate the recently deceased, supposedly to aid the grieving process for the bereaved. Significantly stripped back compared to the excesses of his recent output, Alps is a pitch-black comedy exploring the rituals surrounding mourning…