Directed by Argyris Papadimitropoulos
Picturehouse, Liverpool
20th June 2017

Reviewed by Colin Serjent

Having visited various Greek Islands years ago, watching this film brought back happy memories of endless sun-kissed days spent there, but nothing to compare with the horrific end scene of Suntan!

The movie could be construed as a parable of someone fat, ugly and morose nearing middle-age (he is 42),who falls under the spell of a group of young people, notably Anna (Elli Tringou), holidaying on the Island of Antiparos.

The guy who falls for her false charm and leads him to believe that she is sexually attracted to him, is Kostis (Makis Papadimitriou), who, earlier in the winter, had arrived to work as the principal doctor on Antiparos.

He increasingly becomes an absurd and frustrated figure in trying to become part of this clique – a mix of Nordic and European origin – with good looks, money and an endless zest for life, who spend most of their time on a nudist beach or in overcrowded bars well into the night.

One anomaly I found though was that the twentysomethings, unlike virtually everyone else of that age, never once used a smartphone or some such gadget.

Kostis’s state of mind and physical well being are not helped by his chain smoking and continual drinking sprees. Before arriving on the Island he had clearly undergone some form of mental turmoil but it is never spelt out what this was.

In essence Suntan is a very dark moral tragicomedy set under Mr Blue Sky on pure white sand beaches!