Allegory of refugee hell

June 4, 2019
Issue 

Styx
Director Wolfgang Fischer, starring Susanne Wolff and Gedion Oduor Wekesa
English & German with English subtitles
Screening as part of the German Film Festival

The Styx was the name given by the ancient Greeks to the river dividing the land of the living from that of the dead, Hades. This film is a modern allegory for that journey.

The story line is deceptively simple: Rike, superbly played by Susanne Wolff, is a highly competent German paramedic seeking calm and relief by sailing solo a 12-metre yacht to Ascension Island – a representation of paradise. There is barely any dialogue during the entire film.

After she encounters a stricken trawler packed with African refugees she is slowly confronted by a series of terrible moral conundrums.

Ultimately, there is a descent into the very bowels of Hell.

This film is timely, compelling and oh so deserving of a wide audience.

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