

Adults in the Room

A universal theme: a story of people trapped in an inhuman network of power. The brutal circle of the Eurogroup meetings, who impose on Greece the dictatorship of austerity, where humanity and compassion are utterly disregarded. A claustrophobic trap with no way out, exerting pressures on the protagonists which finally divide them.
Making a film like this is easy to fail. But it doesn't. Because of the horrific truth it shows. Many of the aspects of this movie aren't made to entertain, but to inform. And the plain questions that never get answered by the authorities during this whole film can really bother the viewer. Gavras definitely picks sides with this one, despite what the whole creative team is saying, but there are undeniable truths to be received through this and facts that remain to be explained. As a movie, it tries to stay as plain and as simple even for a complicated matter like this. Varoufakis' effort to be shown as the good guy who always asked the right questions should be a bit toned down for this to work better as infotainment, but the facts already prove him right and this movie legit. The horror that people's lives depend on a non-existant, self-preserving organization that isn't created to benefit lives, but to preserve its non-existance is definitely disturbing.
Unfortunately, neither the directing nor the acting are very well done (except for Christos Loulis). Gavras has had far better moments than this. But all things considered this is a very important movie that definitely gets its message through. It definitely has an impact and that's what matters the most.