In what universe does an overweight, balding, pasty-skinned physician have even a wisp of a chance of scoring with a group of nubile 20something nymphs on a Greek island? In the actual world a guy like this might strike up a casual conversation with vacationing beach hotties…maybe, if the women were bored and God smiled for perversity’s sake.  

For whatever reason an increasing number of cutting-edge filmmakers are refusing to accept that unattractive people live in a hole of muted misery for the most part, and that their lot in life, at best, is to only fraternize among themselves.  (Unless they’re rich, famous or brilliant.)  The universal law about birds of a feather flocking together for thousands of years can’t be changed just because a director-screenwriter (i.e., Suntan‘s Argyris Papadimitropoulos) decides to imagine otherwise.

“Most everyone over 35 will feel distinctly uncomfortable watching Suntan, a cautionary reminder to viewers that once youth is over, it’s over for good. Set on a small Greek island where a doctor becomes obsessed with a nubile young woman, the pic does a disturbing job of contrasting fresh, uninhibited flesh with skin that’s been, well, lived in; it’s an unflinching depiction of one man’s descent into an embarrassing vortex of desire, paired with a spectacular lack of self-awareness.

“Helmer Argyris Papadimitropoulos scores a bull’s-eye in all senses, making Suntan a festival must-have, with certain Eurozone play if not beyond.” — from Jay Weissberg‘s 2.8.16 SXSW review.