20/08/2026 - Alexis Alexiou’s new feature uproots the US neo-noir and plants it into the forgotten holiday towns of Greece

Christiana Matelska Toka and Evangelia Adreadaki in Sea of Glass

With a quote from Thelma and Louise shared prominently in its press notes, Sea of Glass wears its influences on its sleeve. Heavily inspired by US neo-noir films alongside Ridley Scott’s 1991 classic feminist thriller, the Greek-Bulgarian-Cypriot co-production that is Greek director Alexis Alexiou’s third feature is a dark and stylish piece that wobbles classic genre tropes through the prism of the backwaters of Greece. The film has just bowed as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Sixty-five-year-old Vangelio (Evangelia Adreadaki) is trapped by her abusive husband, his care needs isolating her from the rest of the world and from her children. His death leads to her searching for a freedom that the previous years have denied her. When she books a room in a small tourist island resort during the off-season, Vangelio finds herself the only guest in a run-down hotel attended by 23-year-old Vicky (Christiana Matelska Toka).

The two bond when it becomes clear that Vicky is under the thumb of her violent father, known only as “The American”, who owns the hotel. The behaviour of the man, who spends his days drinking with his friends – including local law enforcement – is wilfully cruel, self-destructive and yet continually enabled by the majority of the small town. However, with the two women soon developing a bond over their shared trauma, violent events occur which will likely change their lives forever.

Much of the film is carried by the performances of the two leads. Adreadaki manages to give a restrained portrayal of a character with years of trauma, rage and regret all bubbling below the surface – and threatening to be unleashed at any time. Toka, for whom this is her feature-film debut, is more outwardly tough, but there’s an undercurrent of fragility in her turn, and both share a chemistry that moves the film along.

Alexiou and DoP Simon Sarketzis make much of the setting of Evia, which in real life suffered from flooding and wildfires that devastated much of the region. They present a broken world, a place often – especially out of holiday season – thick with malaise, the marshlands caused by the flood seemingly sucking all ambition and hope from those who dwell around them. This thick and heavy atmosphere permeates the film, making it quite a visceral experience. Alexiou keeps tightening the tension as events start to spiral and, despite the film’s obvious homages, creates something unique enough that even the most genre-savvy viewer will probably be wrong-footed on a couple of occasions. The film does falter slightly in the third act, which seems a tad too rushed, but manages to avoid wearing out its welcome.

Sea of Glass, undeniably an interesting, offbeat addition to the canon of neo-noir films – as well as an impassioned exploration of the violence perpetrated on women and the cycles that allow it to perpetuate – is a memorably atmospheric affair that should pique interest on the festival circuit and may even attract international distributors looking for quirky crime-dramas.

Sea of Glass was produced by Tugo Tugo Productions (Greece), and co-produced by Portokal (Bulgaria) and Bark Like a Cat Films (Cyprus). The film has already been picked up by Greek distributor Weird Wave for an autumn release in Greece as well as in Cyprus.