By Laurie Coker
Rating: D+/C-
Entwined demonstrates how a director can lose his way as he tells his story. Minos Nikolakakis’ takes on more than he can handle in his fairytale horror pick set in tiny cabin in an ominous forest. While his imagery is stunning, Nikolakakis delivers little in the way of entertainment. Encumbered by poor pacing and weighty subject matter, the film never captures the audience and disappoints with an unsatisfying finale.
The film opens with a funeral and soon follows Panos (Prometheus Aleiferopoulos) a doctor who moves to a small village to set up practice. The villagers are less than welcoming and he settles into a relatively humdrum life. On one of his daily trips, he hits Danae (Anastasia-Rafaela Konidi) with his car, and though she survives, he cannot stop thinking about the accident and can’t rid his mind of her. With no relationships developing with the locals, Panos wanders into the woods looking for the girl he’s injured. He finds her in a bizarre situation deep in the woods – a situation from which he frees her only to find himself trapped.
Nikolakakis’ settings are remarkable and he uses this aspect well and worthy of a mythological tale. The little earthy cabin almost hidden in the vast and towering trees frame the inhabitants of this twisted tale. In the eerie forest the thickness of the trees and ominous music renderings make for a stifling and claustrophobic sensation. The audience feels as trapped as Panos and connected to his plight. Regardless, it is in his plot and characterization, that the director, like his protagonist loses his way. Entwined never quite rises to it desire offer revelations in man’s awareness of lack-there-of the inexplicable elements of nature. Panos is a scientist but he can’t explain what happens to his heart and mind in the presence of Danae. And Nikolakasis cannot either. None of his efforts clarify any of his themes thoroughly enough to offer satisfaction.
The film ends and we a grateful and not desirous of more, except for maybe a better understanding of Nikolakakis’ point. Trying to make sense of the possible themes in Entwined is futile. One might think – men are lost when caught in the spell of a woman or maybe it’s the science can explain everything trope – but ultimately, nothing is clear. Because it does evoke some sense of intrigue with its settings and the cast impresses, Entwined earns a C-/D+ in the grade book. For story, it would earn far less.