Chevalier (2015)

While isolated on a yacht during a fishing trip in the Aegean Sea, six men engage in increasingly strange competitions to determine, simply, who’s “the best.” The humor is dark and often dry in this Greek film that satirizes macho posturing and the fragility of the male psyche.

Chevalier’s “combatants” (loosely connected friends and associates ranging from a thirtysomething guy who still lives at home to a successful doctor in his 60s) are depicted in the first shot emerging from the sea like a fledgling species and in its closing shot pulling out of a parking lot in sleek cars. In between, the men achieve a fraught group consciousness based entirely around competition: as part of their self-devised game, they critique one another on everything from sleeping habits to physical prowess to erection quality. In a scene sure to register with any man who has ever felt truly inadequate, they race to construct an Ikea shelving unit.

Chevalier is a fine addition to the wave of odd, dark indie films that have emerged from Greece in recent years, and viewers expecting a sardonic tone and sharp wit rather than belly laughs will leave satisfied. Featuring an impressive ensemble cast and strong cinematography, the film manages to chide these rather sad characters while still preserving them some humanity (a distinction which could’ve otherwise rendered it unbearable). Chevalier might just cross your mind the next time you catch yourself subconsciously jostling for approval at a dinner party.