Greek Film Fest 2024 Review - Murderess

Images courtesy of the Greek Film Festival. 

The Virgin Mary sent me.

Eva Nathena’s debut feature film, Murderess, adapted from Alexandros Papadiamantis’s classic novel I Fonissa, offers a hauntingly raw portrayal of femicide, intergenerational trauma, and the weight of patriarchal societies in early 20th-century Greece. Set on the rugged island of Skiathos, Nathena’s adaptation diverges from its source in ways that may insult literary purists, yet undeniably shines with powerful female-lead performance and meticulous production design. 

The story centres on Hadoula Frangoyannou (Karofyllia Karabeti), the unofficial medicine woman of her village, who uses her knowledge of herbs to aid local women. Hadoula’s bitterness, fuelled by her long-dead mother’s indifference and living in a society as harsh as the barren island around them, twists her duty of care towards sparing these girls the future of becoming women. A future in which a good life consists of a husband who only hits you a little and a bad life is remaining unwed with no way of supporting yourself if your parents don’t have enough money for your dowry. Whilst initially applauded by the men who sought her services to ‘help’ their newborn daughters, she soon takes matters into her own hands and descends into a true angel of death, saving girls on her own accord. Her conviction that she is carrying out God’s will, interpreting every instance as a divine sign, is both disturbing and tragic. It would be easy to paint Hadoula as a creature of pure evil but Nathena’s direction and Karabeti’s gritty portrayal offers a sympathetic portrayal of a woman who truly believes she is helping. Seeing such a morally complex, unapologetically flawed female protagonist—especially one over 50, an age Hollywood largely ignores—felt truly refreshing.

Nathena’s background in costume and set design brings the period piece to life, with authentic clothing, simple village homes, and an attention to the finer detail like the slow unravelling of Hadoula’s braids as she descends into madness. While some scenes suffer from rough sound design, such as screams that are almost comical in pivotal moments, this does not detract from the film’s impact. The supernatural undercurrents of Hadoula’s mother (Maria Protopappa) haunting her integrate seamlessly with the overall exploration of her psyche. The film relies on flashback scenes to build up Hadoula’s backstory and  fill in some of the plot points, but was unfortunately a little opaque in fully connecting dots of just how Hadoula became the murderess in the first place. In the book her actions begin with the accidental death of her granddaughter, which would have offered a clearer motive had it been retained in the film.

The social message behind this film is strong; sure we’re no longer on an isolated Greek island at the turn of the 20th century but it’s naive to believe such days are so far behind us. Greece only abolished dowries in 1987, my own grandmother grew up as a financial burden on her parents due to this very law and therefore had no choice but to move to Australia. And sure that was 60 years ago, but traditions are ingrained and she spent her own motherhood lamenting her lack of ‘children’, an old-school Greek mentality that deems only sons as children and daughters as… other. I’ve seen it at a relative’s Christening, when her father ended his toast hoping for the boy next time - to my family’s applause. It’s a sentiment that crosses cultures, with former actor Bug Hall of The Little Rascals fame going viral for calling his daughters “dishwashers” after rejoicing the birth of his son and sole ‘heir’. Even today, female infanticide worldwide has led to over 100 million women “missing” since 1990—a figure rising toward 200 million in more recent estimates. It might not be the dystopian world portrayed in Murderess but it’s no fairytale. 

So if you’re into morally complex female characters, the abolishment of dowries, female rage, angels of death, and stunning Greek island cinematography then Murderess is the film for you. 

4.5 out of 5 prickly pears.

Murderess screened as part of the 2024 Greek Film Festival. For tickets and more info, click here.