ENTWINED: A Pensive Trip Through the Forest

Entwined, from director Minos Nikolakakis, succeeds in its story, a slow burn that is hypnotizing, piquing the interest of its viewers. It further succeeds through the vibrant imagery and subtle movements of nature, whispering sweet nothings in an almost mythical environment setting.

Getting lost in the forest

Entwined is a film that is easy to get lost in, not in a sense of confusion, but rather fascination. There are a lot of levels that follow a man’s struggle with grief and guilt, thrown against the calming beauty of the forest and its promise of renewal – all while the need for survival lurks ominously below the surface of it all. The need for the survival of life, the survival of beliefs, and the survival of one’s own identity.

Quiet and pensive, Entwined takes viewers through the quietly tumultuous journey of Panos (Prometheus Aleifer) as he leaves his home to become a doctor for another. On his way, his momentary lapse of attention causes him to hit a woman (Anastasia Rafaella Konidi) running across the road. While she appears to be fine, she runs off before he can examine her closer. Clearly disturbed, he continues to the village, finding the town’s needs may be beyond him. Finding little he can do in town, he makes his way to the site of the accident, searching for the young girl – and finding himself lost between the realms of nature and science.

Each concept of Entwined is delivered with a veracity of visuals, the calming of the naturalistic sounds of the forest, and the performances that culminate into a tense heart-pounding examination of the cycle of life – the cycle of nature. Everything perfectly entwines to craft an exquisite showcase of the power of the forces around us – those that can be explained and those that can not.

“Science does not have all the answers”

”I know your kind. You think science can explain everything,” is the immediate swipe at the field of science from the moment that Entwined begins. Sitting in the pews of a funeral, Panos and his brother George (John de Holland) are saying goodbye to a person whose identity is never revealed. There is an understanding that death, particularly this death, is out of our and their control. That there are limitations to what the power and knowledge of science can provide. It sets a precedence for the film and for our main character as he undertakes his position in a remote village, one surrounded by the mysteries of the forest.

With this idea of science not having all the answers, it brings viewers to the questions regarding the power of holistic treatments. While not proven by science, there are herbs and supplements that are believed to heal and soothe through their medicinal properties. Basil for vascular health, turmeric for inflammation. Even marijuana and its cannabinol properties, while not verified by science, are believed to have just as good, if not better, effects on the human body than the medicines doctors are toting on the regular.

With the world returning more to holistic medicine and returning back to the land, there is an intrigue and a terror. A fear that we will lose all the advances science has made, yet a fascination with what already exists in nature – outside of a man-made lab. From this, the film furthers its return to nature and the wonders it provides through its love letter to the cycle of life. Science will tell us exactly what has happened, the decay of a carbon life-form reaching its expiration. Yet, energy is never truly lost but rather transfers. What we are is returned in some fashion to the eternal cycle of life, wherein one’s expiration’s dawns life anew.

There is a reversal of fortune here as well, rather than humanity sucking the life from the earth, it is nature struggling to survive, to remain relevant. We have lost this understanding, believing our ability to explain the elements around us as a finite means of truth. Entwined challenges this belief, pushing us to consider more and to look further. To embrace the mysteries of the forest, though fighting to maintain what we have already learned. To entwine knowledge and nature.

Purgatory of Grief and Guilt

With Entwined, there is an aspect of mythological and mystical foundations one might find in books of fantasy and magic. “God marked the evil ones so we could tell them apart”. The woman named Danae has what appears to be scratches down her back. Instant recollections of markings being a sign of the damned are recalled. More recently, Netflix’s Cursed where the lead protagonist is marked by dark spirits. Even Panos here references the past where these beliefs and fears would come from stating “we do not live in medieval times” when referring to her living conditions, treatment, and health.

There is a feeling Entwined captures the purgatory of grief as well. The void of consciousness where we float through the pain, days melting into one another. At the beginning of the film, viewers are introduced to our protagonist and his brother George. As they look on as a funeral closes, further scenes reveal it was someone of importance, someone Panos, as a doctor, could not save. There is a distancing he places between him and his brother, an inability to connect, and a desire to become lost. As he is stuck between the moment of loss and the moment of moving on, he must learn to accept his place in life and in nature before his purgatory can end.

From ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

Conclusion

While Entwined works well at keeping its fire alive, there are moments its embers threaten to fade. There are moments audiences will find themselves pulling away from the film, pulling away from its narrative. Though it does not hesitate to stoke its fire, drawing viewers right back in. You stay mesmerized trying to understand, trying to figure it out. And Entwined is in no rush to give viewers all the answers. With a crumb trail, viewers are given pieces bit by bit to digest and mull over, to completely immerse themselves in the narrative. – and most importantly, to understand.

Have you seen Entwined? What did you think? Let us know in the comments below!

Entwined will be released in theaters and on VOD August 28, 2020.

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