STYX

94 minutes

English
German

Germany
Austria

Rike - mid-30s, a doctor from Europe - embodies a typically Western model of happiness and success. She is educated, confident, determined and committed. We see Rike‘s everyday life, as an overworked emergency doctor, before she sets out on a much-needed holiday on Gibraltar. There she fulfils a long-held dream and sails out to sea alone in her sailing boat. Her goal: Ascension Island in the Atlantic Ocean. But her dream holiday is quickly broken off on the high seas, when, after a storm, she finds herself near a stricken refugee boat. Unless she intervenes, around a hundred people will drown – their utterly overloaded boat has sprung a leak. Rike follows maritime law and radios for help - legally, she is not obliged to do any more. But when her calls are left unanswered, and then rejected for spurious reasons, she decides to overcome her fear and try to rescue whoever she can.

starring...

Susanne Wolff

Rieke

Gedion Oduor Wekesa

Kingsley

Director

Wolfgang Fischer

Writers

Wolfgang Fischer, Ika Künzel

Cinematography

Benedict Neuenfels

Editing

Monika Willi

Producer

Marcos Kantis, Martin Lehwald

Head of Sound

Adrian Baumeister

NAN% on the CINEMETER

MIL

100% - Mar 3, 2019

Different -- complex
Milwaukee Member

Hard movie to watch! Sad world, what can one person do but what she did
Milwaukee Member

Incredible performance by Suzanne Wolff. In some ways, reminded me of "Arctic," now playing at Downer. Man vs. Nature is always dramatic. The political implications are laid out with no real answers. Interesting that she is German -- would other nationalities in Europe present the dilemma in the same way? Does she -- or Germany as a nation -- regret trying to help refugees?
Milwaukee Member

Disturbing, provocative. Great acting, great beginning.
Milwaukee Member

Very good, very intense!
Milwaukee Member

Tense, intense, distressing.
Milwaukee Member

Very thoughtful, sparse movie confirming that current society does not value the lives of the poor or disenfranchised. Beautiful & ugly movie all at the same time.
Milwaukee Member

ATL

82% - Mar 3, 2019

Terrific. Thoughtful. Moral dilemma. I thought the director did a great job allowing us to interpret, rather than TELLING us everything. Wonderful, disturbing film.
Atlanta Member

Styx=triage at sea. Relevant drama on immigration. This drama contains all the elements of a tragedy. Individual and bureaucratic. An overwhelming episode of an African Holocaust--a modern day version.
Atlanta Member

This is what great films look like. This highlights a critical world issue by making the viewer experience it. I think I have PTSD from just watching it.
Atlanta Member

First world morality. Automatically rescue reckless driver, while ignoring refugees about to die.
Atlanta Member

From the start the movie had me--as tense as I could be. Director/writer presented one ethical dilemma after another. Wolff's acting was superb!
Atlanta Member

A beautiful film. Amazing how the sense of isolation and foreboding is built without dialogue and how Rieke's orderly and organized life becomes the chaotic moral challenge of immigration.
Atlanta Member

77% - Feb 17, 2019

A great story of a moral quandary; a clear approach to an important, timely topic. Amazing minimalist dialogue; nautical education morphed into hellish moral dilemma created by failure of civilization.
San Francisco Member

Loved that the film relied on actual sound vs musical score; felt I was right on the scene with her; stunning surprising, foreboding open. Even the primates take better care of each other than we do.
San Francisco Member

Such interesting cinematic decisions(monkeys vs civilization in the open); the overhead shots, esp. at the beginning giving us the long view and the global view then moving in close to the very personal with the details.
San Francisco Member

Along the lines of a documentary; a blunt riveting metaphor for our times; not hard to figure out who are the Western figures and who are the 'shithole' countries. The suspense was very effective.
San Francisco Member

Moving and gripping; irony of Germans saving the refugees. Very timely in this time of abandoned refugees. Is this our culture choosing to let people die rather than risk taking in all the people who want to come in?
San Francisco Member

Excellent acting; the cinematography was in the storm scenes was incredible;
San Francisco Member

STL

88% - Mar 3, 2019

Powerful. Pertinent.

Great movie.

A very powerful film capturing the powerlessness of an individual when the system has failed. The cinematography was extraordinary.

St. Louis Member

Thought provoking.

I loved the film because it spoke to man's inhumanity to man. It was difficult to watch, but then no important issue -- immigration -- has an immediate solution.

So much was said with so few words, strong depiction of the doctor's dilemma between the Hippocratic oath and the instructions of the Coast Guard.
St. Louis Member

Powerful. . .taut. . .remarkable use of silence to create suspense. Hard to watch, but watch we must.

Powerful. Thank goodness for women.
Interesting film about humans vs. nature and humans vsl humans. Which is the bigger threat?
St. Louis Member

80% - Feb 10, 2019

Compelling, physical, and meditative. The film asks us to be part of the inquiry now. What would we do? What should we do? Great editing and sound -- which was as much a character as the sea. [Moderator note: many comments praising the sound.]
Greater New Haven Member

A thought-provoking film exploring moral relativism. The film quickly turns into a story of altruism vs. Darwinism (survival of the fittest). When faced with a no-win situation, what is the best course of action? While altruism ultimately saved some of the refugees, the tone at the end was definitely negative in my opinion.
Greater New Haven Member

Many fine shots, beginning with timing of monkey with plane landing below - shadow of the heroine on the sail - many excellent birds-eye views, showing the grandeur of the sea in contrast to the tiny boat. So hard to make a film on the small confines of a boat. My hat’s off to the fine camerawork. Thought the conclusion dragged on a bit too late. [Moderator note: many comments praising the cinematography. Examples: 'Kudos to the cinematographer!' 'The cinematography was amazing.']
Greater New Haven Member

The questions of morality, both individual and societal, are reflected and explored in the setting, the storm, and the faces of the actors, allowing the audience to be part of the drama and anguish.
Greater New Haven Member

Wow! Powerful movie! Two professions whose jobs are to save lives, but what a disaster when one who has the capacity to save chooses to ignore their moral and professional obligation. I wish Rike had engaged the boy more in conversation, so we’d know more about him, his people, reasons for leaving their homeland, etc. Loved the closeups, cinematography, great film! [Moderator note: the word 'powerful' appeared on many cards.]
Greater New Haven Member

Every aspect of this film hooked me from the accident scene at the beginning through to the rescued persons and the body bags. I was caught in every piece of the plot. How is it possible for humans to do what they do?
Greater New Haven Member

Seat-of-your pants scary scenes. Storm scenes absolutely frightening. Speaks truth about current sad state of racism and hypocrisy. [Moderator note: several cards praised the film as a thriller. 'Nail-biting,' 'white-knuckle,' etc.]
Greater New Haven Member

Brilliant film-making conveying the power of nature at the start, and delivering a body-blow punch to your emotional gut at the end.
Greater New Haven Member

This felt like an intimate documentary, and it left me so angry. And so sad.
Greater New Haven Member

Harrowing, haunting, and horrifying. [Moderator note: along similar lines: "Intense, disturbing."]
Greater New Haven Member

A tour-de-force of pure visual storytelling, and what a story! Fully realized without a wasted frame.
Greater New Haven Member

Thank you, Cinema Club! Best of this (and last) season!
Greater New Haven Member

BOS

NAN% - Mar 3, 2019

72% - Feb 24, 2019

I loved how silence was the powerful protagonist. The beautiful silence of an escape to the sea. The careful bureaucratic silenced of officialdom. The horrific silence of dead refugees.
Washington, DC Member

Riveting!
Washington, DC Member

A masterfully excruciating kick to the solar plexus. A dread-filled minimalist morality tale, which just so happens to land amid a host of humanitarian crises across the globe.
Washington, DC Member

She was extraordinary. She traveled Dante’s Inferno down from the very start. Africa (animals) cannot anymore be contained and held apart from the European world. An intense clash between the orderliness and we’ll intentioned values of Europe with the reality of refugee “hell.” This woman was incredibly strong in every way - but even she was bowed in face of the tragic desperation and needless death she had to face.
Washington, DC Member

Activist cinema! Until the ending it was excellent - as cinema. Great cinematography, fine acting, intense plot!
Washington, DC Member

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