Quiet Life (2024) ‘Venice’ Movie Review: A Chilling Exploration of Parental Anxieties and the Asylum Procedure 

War and deportation have been painful parts of human history. So, they are bound to leave some lasting impact on one’s psyche. When soldiers returned from wars in the 20th century, they felt resigned from worldly affairs. However, they could not pinpoint their feelings, nor could the people around them explain their social resignation. “Quiet Life” examines a similar sense of post-traumatic stress that children face fleeing their homeland after some painful events. This film, directed by Alexandros Avranas, explores a family dealing with their children suffering from ‘resignation syndrome.’ 

Set in 2018, the narrative follows a married couple, Natalia (Chulpan Khamatova) and Sergei (Grigoriy Dobrygin), who flee their native Russia to Sweden with their two daughters, Alina (Naomi Lamp) and Katja (Miroslava Pashutina). They are political asylum seekers who hope to lead a happy life in this foreign land. Shortly before their departure, they were victims of a terrifying episode. They were intimidated for sharing their political beliefs contrary to the established narrative of the authorities. While adults work with their coping mechanisms, the children are too young to have the same resistance to pain and anxiety. 

While being allowed a temporary stay in Sweden under certain conditions, the Gallitzins await their residence permit. As refugees, they try to acclimate to their new surroundings and make the kids feel more at ease with themselves. However, despite Sweden’s apparently safe and secure environment, the daughters feel isolated. Eventually, it affects Katja’s life. One day, she suddenly collapses and enters a comatose state. She cannot describe nor process her trauma, and she closes in on herself instead of feeling the omnipresent fear her family felt before. The medical professionals call it a ‘resignation syndrome’ but cannot help her family with an exact cure.

Since Katja stays in a coma, Natalia and Sergei worry about when she will regain consciousness. Besides, they try to understand whether a recovery can bring her back to her old self. After all, they moved to a different country for her & Alina to experience a better life. So, they hope for her recovery. Simultaneously, they must figure out their refugee status to ensure a stable future. They must undergo the necessary procedures to convince the officers of their traumatic experience. During this time, they must adjust their behavior and control their anger or frustration. 

While dealing with the medical authorities, the parents begin to learn and unlearn parts of their parenting responsibilities. They try to adapt to a parenting style that is alien to them, at least partially. So, they learn to feign sincerity to convey their affection. It leads to severe parental anxieties as they try to make peace with their reality away from their past sorrows. However, the unrelenting burden of responsibilities keeps them from experiencing any emotion otherwise. They remain busy tending to one or the other needs while sincerely attempting to understand their kids’ emotional turmoil. 

“Quiet Life” explores periods of transition in varied contexts. At its core, all its characters seek the titular, quiet life while living under the shadows of their past. The script, written by Avranas with Stavros Pamballis, carefully examines the roots of their micro-aggressions and provides a vivid and profound emotional landscape. The film captures their turmoil often through long, sustained shots with a muted color palette that sets a gloomy tone. It helps us further register the vividness of their emotions (and the subtextual layers) without any manipulative musical score. Olympia Mytilinaiou captures several intriguing frames that capture the inherent absurdity of their struggles without ridiculing them. 

The script examines the nature of power and control in the context of different institutions. It explores what freedom and defiance mean in various contexts and how humans adapt to newer settings for a sense of peace. Despite being based on actual conflicts, “Quiet Life” never becomes didactic. It remains a profoundly humane exercise to understand everyone’s anxieties. It becomes a chilling experience because of its deeply unsettling themes and the power of its potent direction.

Quiet Life was screened at the 2024 Venice Film Festival

Quiet Life (2024) Movie Links: IMDb, Letterboxd, MUBI
The Cast of Quiet Life (2024) Movie: Chulpan Khamatova, Grigoriy Dobrygin, Naomi Lamo, Miroslava Pashutina, Eleni Roussinou, Lena Endre, Alicia Erkisson, Kristjan Üksküla