It’s an unusual summer on the Mediterranean coast in Konstantinos Koutsoliotas’ quirky comic actioner Minore. A strange fog descends on a laid-back port town in Greece, causing its inhabitants to experience bizarre visions and drawing them into the sea. As malevolent, multi-limbed monsters invade the town, slaughtering people and preparing the way for the Great Devourer, a ragtag bunch of townsfolk must take up arms – and musical instruments – to fight the otherworldly invaders. 

Defying easy categorisation, Minore gradually shifts registers from an ensemble comedy to an eerie mystery movie before becoming a full-blooded creature feature with copious amounts of guts and gore. In the process, the film finds a complex, idiosyncratic tone to tell a tale of communal solidarity, which possesses both a mythical significance and a contemporary resonance.

Shot in painterly colours with a pronounced play of shadows, Minore proceeds at an unhurried pace reflective of the town’s epicurean way of life dominated by food and music. Even when the drama reaches fever pitch, the film creates space for low-key moments, leisurely interactions and absurd non-sequiturs. The result is a constantly surprising work that reimagines how action cinema should look and feel like.

– Srikanth Srinivasan