I’m one of the few people who actually managed to sit through 2016 “Dark Crimes” starring Jim Carrey. It very well may be one of the worse films ever made, so you can imagine my hesitation with a new film by Alexandros Avranas. Thankfully, Avranas has learned from his mistakes, and creates a heartbreaking but beautiful story with “Quiet Life.” Most immigrant or refugee stories follow the turmoil of escape or the world they’re fleeing from, immersing the audience in trauma with very little respite. It is rare that we tell stories of asylum seekers after the escape, and even more rare that we see that same family already living in the country they fled to. It manages to deliver on both, never downplaying the trauma that this particular family has experienced, but also exploring the perilous and sometimes just as traumatic experience of trying to stay in the very place they thought they were safe in.
Written and directed by Alexandros Avranas and co-written by Stavros Pamballis, “Quiet Life” follows a Russian family who fled their home country and are now seeking asylum in Sweden. Sergei and Natalia and their two daughters Katya and Natalia have acclimated to their new life, and hope to be able to state their case of permanent residency. However, their application is denied as they are told they cannot prove they fled persecution or abuse at the hands of the Russian government. Left with no choice, Sergei and Natalia ask their youngest daughter Katya to testify at the appeal as the only witness to the abuse her father endured. Katya suddenly falls into a mysterious coma known as resignation syndrome. Unable to testify, she is remitted to the care of a Swedish hospital, who threaten to separate the family if she doesn’t get better. It becomes a fight to save their children and their family in a place that, at every turn seems to not want them there, and a fight to never return to the country that will surely kill them if they were sent back. The film stars Grigoriy Dobrygin, Chulpan Khamatova, Naomi Lamp, Miroslava Pashutina and Eleni Roussinou.
“Quiet Life” is purposefully reserved, crafted in an almost uneasy silence and deadpan delivery from nearly everyone we encounter. Avranas creates a sense of emotionlessness as way to convey an overwhelmed family who seem so beaten down by the systems that showing emotion feels impossible. They have given so much already, even if it doesn’t need to show us their tribulations. It slowly unfolds, punctuated by rousing moments of outbursts and the breaking of the dam of suppression that each family member has built. They want to be free and safe together, but every turn presents a new obstacle to make it harder and harder. You start to feel FOR them because they are constantly told not show who they truly want to be, less they be sent away. This film portrays a new look of how stress manifests in us all, particularly how children can be affected in ways never thought possible. Resignation syndrome is apparently very real, and given the state of the world right now feels timely to start examining.
Avranas’ portrait of asylum seekers feels almost hopeless, as “Quiet Life” never lets up even if the volume is constantly turned down. It is a searing critique of bureaucracy, and highlights the devastating effects these things can have on children caught in the tides of our systems. Even at its most absurd – as it quietly satirizes the treatments conducted to help bring children out of their coma – It never panders or feels emotionally manipulative. Its patience and soft nature colliding against boiled over responses to a never ending cycle of despair always drive you to want the best for this family that is clearly hurting but can’t show it. To say it’s an easy watch – even though it is never expressly violent – would be an understatement, as “Quiet Life’s” first two acts seem to hurdle us towards the worst cast scenario for the entire family. Every time we feel as though something good might happen to this family, something worse happens.
This film isn’t without hope, though. It’s third act rewards you for your emotional investment in this family, and reminds us that nothing is more powerful than love. I’d say family, but Domonic Toretto is not in this film, and it couldn’t be further from that meme trend. No, “Quiet Life” is about what a family will endure to stay together, what it means to fight for a better life, and how all we need is each other to survive. It sounds cheesier than it is, and Avranas is careful not to transform his ending and conclusion into heavy handed sap. There is true beauty here, even in tragedy and redemption. It my be tonally jumbled for some, shifting from absurd satire to subdued distance to a myriad of topics it wants to touch on with sometimes conflicting conclusions about what Avranas is trying to say about each of them. “Quiet Life” may not all come together, but I found anything mixed tonally to be overshadowed by its powerful third act that brings everything home.
This is a special kind of film, one that will wreck you emotionally but also shed light on an often forgotten experience of the struggle of asylum and the consequences it has on families and their children. But in the end, “Quiet Life” leaves you with hope and love, the kind that can only come from family.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
“Quiet Life” had it’s premiere at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. There is currently no trailer or theatrical release for this film.
