Synopsis: Austria’s Oscar selection for Best Foreign Film, Antares skillfully interweaves the stories of three couples at crossroads over three momentous days. Set in a ubiquitous, concrete high-rise apartment complex on the outskirts of a big city, the couple emerge from this uniform coexistence to search for love, closeness and some form of happiness. Antares features explicit sexual content and mature themes in its portrayal of these modern relationships.
***********************************************************************

Antares 8.0

‘Antares’ is an Austrian film which follows three intertwined relationships. It’s not a new concept, granted, but it succeeds in giving us a different flavour – if not because of the setting, which is somewhat dismal, but because none of the main characters are pure or easy to sympathize with.

Having said that, they are three-dimensional, are likeable enough, and it isn’t hard to identify with one or many of them – or, at the very least, to find parallels with people we know. In my estimation, these are very much characters that we see around us daily, complete with flawed vision and failed dreams.

If it sounds unenjoyable at first glance, one might be surprised at how engrossing it actually is: the three stories are woven together in such a way that, when I realized what was going on, I began to scrutinize the screen to discover who our next main character would be and to figure how they fit in the picture. I became more alert and, thus, enjoyed the finer details of this film more.

…all the way to its neat little wrap-up at the end.

And, truth be told, although the stories of a woman cheating on her husband, an insecure young woman trying desperately to hold on to her boyfriend and a woman who is being stalked by her ex are hardly what I’d typically consider to be my idea of a good time, the various plights of the primary and secondary characters compel the viewer to stand by and find out what will come next.

One actually ends up caring about the outcome, one way or another; these feel like real people, with real (albeit unpleasant) lives. And, to me, that’s the mark of a pretty decent movie – as unassuming, unpolished and unconventional as it can be.