‘Bearcave’ review: Lyrical, overlong debut follows two queer women in rural Greece

Dirs/scr: Stergios Dinopoulos, Krysianna B. Papadakis. Greece. 2025. 132mins

With Bearcave, directors Stergios Dinopoulos and Krysianna B. Papadakis have expanded their 2023 Greek short to feature length. While even more of a sensorial experience, and something clearly attuned to the slow everyday rhythms of rural life in the Greek mountains, it also becomes a more meandering one. Authentic in its portrayal of the life of queer women, it premiered in Venice’s Giornate degli Autori, where it won the Europa Cinemas Label, and makes its home turf debut in Thessaloniki.

Clearly attuned to the slow everyday rhythms of rural life in the Greek mountains

The dark-haired Argyro (Hara Kyriazi) is a young, no-nonsense farming woman, in many ways the opposite of her friend Anneta (Pamela Oikonomaki), a blonde party girl who makes a living as the village manicurist. Their friendship is as solid as the rocks and mountain peaks that surround them, so it comes as a bit of a shock to Argyro when Anneta confesses she’s pregnant and will very soon move to the city with her boyfriend, a police officer. 

That their are unspoken feelings between the two is clear from the start, with Oikonomaki and the very good Kyriazi suggesting through body language and furtive glances that the two don’t necessarily see each other just as friends. Anneta’s pregnancy and impending move are the catalyst for the truth to reveal itself.

The most convincing aspect of Bearcave is its portrait of a small rural community, where time seems to move much slower than in the city. Boys are boys on their motorbikes and girls make nettle pies, largely conforming to traditional ideas of male and female roles – even if Argyro is already something of an exception as a female farmer. of course, everyone knows each other’s business, and it an be challenging to come out in an environment where privacy or relative anonymity are scarce.

Together with the talented cinematographer Arsinoi Pilou, the directors succeed in creating a painterly picture of a place, a few lyrical interludes up in the mountains elevating the material from straightforward story to something akin to a more free-floating sensory experience.

The issue is that Bearcave runs over two hours and this kind of lyricism isn’t sustainable for that amount of time; occasionally, the film falls back into scenes that simply are driven by character or plot needs, with the directors struggling to successfully navigate these whiplash-like tonal changes. Nevertheless, it’s a pleasure to spend time with these women in their small mountain community.