Apples

We’re able to invest ourselves in Nikou’s world because we can so easily see ourselves in Servetalis’s character.

What this surreal microcosm ends up conveying about the human experience extends past the frame and into viewers’ hearts and minds.

It all sounds bizarre on paper. But Apples, the first feature from the director and co-writer Christos Nikou, unfolds with an understated deadpan wit that makes even its weirder touches seem plausible, even logical.

“Apples” subtly delivers a complex existential journey with deep meaning.

[Christos Nikou] has pulled off a neat little trick: He’s told a story that, for reasons that are more easily felt than explained, is hard to shake off.

There's a melancholy restraint to it, along with a surrealism that is so bizarre that you can't help but laugh.

This is a distinct new voice within the film industry and I certainly cannot wait to see what he does next.

Nikou leverages 14842’s journey to illustrate that there is joy in embracing immense personal, past anguish over impersonal collateral sorrow at the hands of acquaintances and strangers.

If the conclusion to [Christos] Nikou's debut doesn't land as effectively as it could, he casts an enchanting spell through deft direction combined with [Aris] Servetalis's consistently compelling performance.  

Christos Nikou’s film, rather ironically, lingers long in the mind following the end credits. Proving that at its core, Apples is an unforgettable debut.