Three new films arrive in Greek theaters this week, ranging from dark examinations of the worlds of reality television and social media to an ambitious Chinese arthouse film that offers a radically different cinematic experience.
The strongest of the new releases is Bi Gan’s “Resurrection,” a nearly three-hour dreamlike work that embraces the history and possibilities of cinema. The other two films, “Primetime” and “The Social Reckoning,” explore the darker sides of television and social media, though with considerably less success.
The review uses a six-point scale, ranging from 5 for excellent to 0 for unacceptable.
“Primetime”
Production: U.S., 2026
Director: Lance Oppenheim
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Merritt Wever, among others
Rating: 2.5/5
Documentarian Lance Oppenheim makes his feature-length fiction debut with “Primetime,” a disturbing look at the world behind reality television and the lengths to which entertainment can go in pursuit of an audience.
The film centers on Chris Hansen, played by Robert Pattinson, a U.S. television personality who rose to prominence about two decades ago with the reality series “To Catch a Predator.” The series focused on the live capture of suspected sexual predators whom Hansen contacted online.
Using decoys to lure the suspects, Hansen would confront them on camera before handing the cases over to police after the show ended.
The film repeatedly emphasizes the fact that the disturbing events depicted were based on real people and events. Oppenheim creates an atmosphere that feels deliberately filthy and contaminated, reinforced by David Bolen’s deliberately “dirty” cinematography.
Pattinson delivers another dark performance as Hansen, continuing to experiment with and develop his range. Skyler Gisondo is also singled out for his performance as a young actor who, despite his reservations, accepts a role in the show as he tries to establish his career.
The material is inherently unsettling, but the film perhaps emphasizes its point more heavily than necessary. The review compares it unfavorably with films such as Sidney Lumet’s “Network” and Peter Weir’s “The Truman Show,” arguing that those films explored the cynicism behind television without turning it into caricature.
Merritt Wever is praised for her performance as Hansen’s producer, portraying a brazen and unapologetically cold professional who nevertheless appears to be troubled by her conscience.
“The Social Reckoning”
Production: U.S., 2026
Director: Aaron Sorkin
Cast: Mikey Madison, Jeremy Strong, among others
Rating: 1.5/5
Aaron Sorkin turns his attention to the darker side of social media in “The Social Reckoning,” a film focused on Facebook and the mechanisms through which social networks can influence users’ thinking.
The film follows Frances Haugen, played by Mikey Madison, a young Facebook employee who discovers that 64% of the platform’s users have joined extremist groups because of the social network.
Haugen secretly approaches the press and eventually works with Jeff Horowitz, played by Jeremy Allen White, a prominent investigative reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Together, they embark on an effort to expose the social network’s closely guarded secrets.
The film presents Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jeremy Strong, as an almost emotionless, robotic figure. It also recalls the scrutiny Zuckerberg faced from the U.S. justice system over the platform’s practices.
Sorkin, who wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for David Fincher’s “The Social Network,” returns to the subject from a different perspective, focusing on how the problems surrounding social media emerged rather than on Facebook’s creation.
The result, however, is weighed down by lengthy and often tedious dialogue filled with legal and technical terminology. While the film can be informative about the darker mechanisms of social media, its academic approach makes it difficult for viewers unfamiliar with the subject to connect with what they are watching.
“Resurrection”
Production: China/France/U.S., 2025
Director: Bi Gan
Cast: Jackson Yee, Shu Qi, among others
Rating: 4/5
At nearly three hours, or 160 minutes, Bi Gan’s “Resurrection” is not a conventional mainstream film. Showing in only one Athens theater, Newman, more than a year after its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize, it is aimed at viewers with a deep appreciation for cinema as an art form.
The film does not fit neatly into a single genre. Although it is ostensibly set in the future and could be described as science fiction, the review argues that it is better understood simply as fantasy.
Rather than offering an easily interpretable narrative, “Resurrection” unfolds as a dream journey through different eras of cinema. Its influences encompass filmmakers and cinematic traditions associated with Georges Méliès, David Lean, Jean-Luc Godard, David Lynch and Wong Kar-wai.
The film moves between color and black-and-white cinematography, while its sound, performances and editing combine to create an experience intended less to be explained than felt.
Its world is one in which dreaming has been banned because it conflicts with longevity. The film asks what the purpose of life is if people can no longer dream or imagine.
Its “rebels” are those who choose a life with an expiration date but one filled with an unpredictable and emotionally charged journey. Bi Gan follows one such rebel through a journey across time, divided into five stops, five cinematic genres and five stories that appear to have neither a clear beginning nor an end.
The number five also carries symbolic significance, corresponding to the five human senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.
“Resurrection” ultimately asks viewers to surrender themselves completely to the experience, much like the dreams people experience without being able to control them. Some dreams are pleasant, others frightening, but all make us feel alive.
Also in theaters
“Other Mommy”
U.S., 2026 — Director: Rob Savage
Rating: 1/5
Jessica Chastain plays a mother who adores her child as well as a second, ghostly mother who terrorizes the child.
The film marks Chastain’s entry into a horror B-movie genre with which she has previously had little connection. The review, however, finds little reason to recommend it.
The screenplay by Nathan Elston and Josh Malerman is described as clumsy and foolish, borrowing heavily from familiar horror films and franchises ranging from “The Exorcist” to “Paranormal Activity” and “Insidious.” The result is described as a bloody mixture that is more likely to provoke a smile than fear.
James Wan, creator of the “Saw” horror franchise, is the film’s producer.
“Forgotten Island”
U.S., 2026 — Directors: Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado
Rating: 1.5/5
The animated film follows the friendship of two girls as they enter the magical world of an island inhabited by mythical creatures, some friendly and others frightening.
The review describes the animation as colorful and spectacular but ultimately confusing and lacking in meaning. It is characterized as one of DreamWorks’ less interesting animated films of recent years.
H.E.R., Lisa Soberano and Dave Franco provide voices for the U.S. version. The Greek-dubbed version features Maria Chanou, Penelope Skalkotou and Orestis Chalkias among its voice cast.
“Gaza, La Franja del exterminio”
Mexico, 2024 — Director: Rafael Rangel
The documentary enters the heart of the Gaza Strip to record the bombing and destruction there, focusing on the suffering of those injured, particularly children.
Rating: Not provided.
