The purpose of this film was to shock just for the sake of it. This is not independent cinema, this is pure sickness. We need to move away from the sick minded people and the movies that reproduce sickness so they can be named ''independent'', ''shocking'' , ''contemporary'' etc. Every useless director in Greece is trying to imitate previous successes (dogtooth) and make a name, but apparently they cannot realize the limits. Or are they sick too? The worst part of the movie was the attempted connection of these disgusting actions with the financial crisis (the low wage that that the grandpa was offered). Don't watch it.

The movie can be seen as an allegory that utilizes what seems like an impossible plot to make some points about a patriarchal family system, that's ever so common in Greece (surely in other places, too).I'm Greek myself and several of the situations the characters face in the movie are very familiar to me. The father enjoys ultimate and unquestionable respect by the members of the family. The mother stays passive, her role confined mostly to everyday chores. The kids are obedient little soldiers. Any thought of rebellion is suppressed by deep fear. These are all things I've witnessed and heard of myself, from friends and relatives. I remember various incest rape cases having surfaced through the years - they still do.Avranas took his story to the extremes, to point out how rotten the institution we call the "holy Greek family" is. The apartment door is locked. To a patriarch, it doesn't matter what happens behind it, as long as it stays there. It's his family after all. What matters is his own face to society, to keep up appearances. What matters is the surface, not the substance.I've heard so many women in my life saying "Oh yes, he may beat his wife up, but at least he doesn't cheat on her!" or "He may cheat on her, but he always provides food for his family!" What is pictured in the movie is the continued victimization of the female. The woman is rendered to an object for pleasure, for cooking, for cleaning, anything to satisfy the primary male in the family. The father must be obeyed and respected at all times, even though he's an unemployed middle aged man who can't provide much to his family - and this will not be questioned either: he's the MAN. It's so deeply ironic that the song he forces his little girl to dance to is, in fact, feminist at best, and a hymn to misandry at worst (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwbYEOKzBYo).The females have learned to accept their degradation as something normal. The oldest daughter feels numb, not being able to wake up to reality. Her kids, her own brother and sister apparently, she knows will go down the same road themselves. When one of them understands the true nature of her family relationships, she commits suicide. Again, the family's priority is to save face - it was an accident, not a suicide.This attitude, so prevalent in Greece until recently, is what I believe is the director's target here. Some scenes may be hard to watch, but he didn't really cross the line that much, or as far as he could have. From the moment I realized what was going on, the story made sense on so many levels, I was really at awe with what the director accomplished: a film that's both a psychological thriller and a cold, yet in-depth cultural study.

**SPOILERS**I felt sickened from the start. This film was set beautifully, the sight alone of the young girls dressed similarly in white in the opening scene was enough to pre-empt the questionable family dynamics for me. And then it just kept escalating until it reached a horrific level. I keep seeing reviews that compare this to Lanthimos' Dogtooth in the way it focuses on the institution of family as well as similarities with the film's cinematic elements, such as use of silence. The main difference for me was how Miss Violence, considerably a product of the Greek 'Weird Wave', is on a completely different side of the spectrum of weird than Dogtooth. The violence and power relations aside, Dogtooth's disturbed themes were a bit absurdist and I found myself laughing uncomfortably a few times ("Mum, two little zombies!"). Miss Violence's weirdness felt less absurd and not at all laughable. The characters' had a more accurate understanding of the world and in effect it made the disturbing themes of abuse more horrific. Brilliantly directed, I couldn't stop watching this film even when it made me very uneasy as the narrative sequence had me wanting to see if all my horrible assumptions were going to be confirmed... and indeed they were exceeded in all the worst ways. I don't know if I would have watched this knowing how central the child sexual exploitation and abuse would be to the story. I don't regret watching it though and so respect the construction of suspense, tension and the representation of the family not being an ideal institution as it is commonly portrayed in general Greek culture and past cinema.

Miss Violence was the first film I've seen at this years Vancouver International Film Festival and what a fantastic film it is. There are similarities to Giorgos Lanthimos's films (Dogtooth, Alps) where you spend the first third of the film figuring out the relationships of the characters to each other and the rules of the world they live in. The rest of the film is spent either reveling in either horror or fascination in the world and characters created.This story is given to you in small pieces which build upon your understanding of who these people are. This in turn makes you a very active film-goer and creates a feeling of investment. When Miss Violence reaches it's climax I could feel the collective sighs from the 200+ people gathered to watch it at the festival.Be warned though...it is heavy, but so worth it. You'll be talking about it for awhile to come.