Kinetta is a desolate Greek resort town, inhabited during the off-season by migrant workers. In this colourless setting, the film studies the cryptic activities of an inscrutable trio: a plain-clothes cop with a passion for cars and tape recorders; a loner clerk who is a part-time photographer; and a hotel maid with aspirations to be an actress. They barely speak, passing the time by staging outlandish re-enactments of local murders. Their efforts are obsessive, the details exhaustive, their purpose questionable.

Like Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest works (The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Favourite), Kinetta is in large part about role play, performed both privately and publicly, and explores how identities are influenced by the rules and rituals of our real or adopted communities.