After a presentation at the Venice Film Festival, Athena has finally arrived on Netflix. So, big success or small flop according to the French and American media?
What is it about ?
Called back from the front following the death of his youngest brother, who died following an alleged police intervention, Abdel finds his family torn apart. Between the desire for revenge of his little brother Karim and the business in danger of his big brother dealer Moktar, he tries to calm the tensions. Minute after minute, the Athena city is transformed into a fortified castle, the scene of a family and collective tragedy to come. When everyone thinks they have found the truth, the city is about to fall into chaos…
Athena, by Romain Gavras with Dali Benssalah, Sami Slimane, Anthony Bajon…
What does the press think?
According to Cinemateaser
When a large white horse appears between the bars of buildings, surrealism disrupts the viewer’s experience, caught in a vice between the raw realism of “suburban film” and images from elsewhere, from Helm’s abyss or from ‘Hollywood. An aesthetic and political shock – the film ends with a very contemporary statement – ATHENA stands out as one of the best French films of the 21st century.
5/5
Read the full review here.
According to GQ
To say that Athena is a feat is an understatement. It’s a film the likes of which we rarely see in the life of a spectator, which does not forbid anything and takes on all the subjects it tackles head on. […]Nothing to fear, Athena is unforgettable.
5/5
Read the full review here.
According to The Sunday Journal
The story, governed by a unity of place and time, links virtuoso sequence shots to restore chaos with rare power and fury.
4/5
Read the full review here.
According to Variety
Athena is not propaganda. Of course, the film can be seen as a call to action, giving audiences a taste of the resistance, but the screenwriters – Gavras, Ly and Elias Belkeddar – temper that aspect with great caution.
4/5
Read the full review here.
According to The Hollywood Reporter
Athena is a shocker, a film that will leave you bruised, until its sobering final reveal. 4/5
Read the full review here.
According to Le Parisien
Stereotypes (about the sons of immigrants, radicalization, cops, young people) are discarded, and, by blurring all the benchmarks, Gavras ends up touching a form of powerful theatrical abstraction. But if his portrait of insurgent brothers plays on this radicalism, it also constitutes its limit.
3/5
Read the full review here.
According to Les Inrockuptibles
Gavras claims to place himself under the aegis of ancient tragedy (just that), he actually has more to do with the imagery of online betting pubs than with any dramatic tradition of ancient nobility.
1/5
Read the full review here.