December 9, 2025
'Ruins' is a gloomy, emotionally charged short film exploring the lasting effect of childhood trauma and the weak and frequently hurtful relationships between brothers. Vagelis Karampasoglou and Alexandros Saoulidis created a film that is full of memory, silence and implied bitterness that brings Lazaros and Angelos back to the setting where their lives were broken beyond repair. What ensues is a dignified but very touching study of how the past is not willing to give up its hold and how family remains can be a home and a trauma all at the same time.
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The setting of the film, an abandoned childhood home, is more than a backdrop. It is a physical display of the inner landscapes of the brothers: deserted, moldering and full of the residue of unresolved grievances. The film relies on the restraint of the performances of Lazaros (played by Vagelis Karampasoglou) and Angelos (Agathoklis Gardikis), who anchor the film. Their reunion is also characterized by a kind of hesitant distance that is not related to not knowing each other, but rather knowing each other too well. Lazaros is burdened with the weight of a person who has been running away for years to avoid being remembered, while Angelos is full of the desire and rage of a younger brother.
The directors prefer to use silence in telling the story, glances, hesitations, and bits of conversation that reflect the emotional distance between the brothers. Their relationship is delicate, as if one word can heal a wound that was inflicted a long time ago. The ghosts that creep upon them are not actual ghosts, but the movie is close to the supernatural.
Instead, they are the mental apparitions of guilt, fear, and the roles that each brother took in the post-tragic period. Angelos appears to be motivated by the desire to know, to draw meaning out of the ruins, whereas Lazaros is desperate to cover the dead. They are brought back to the house, and this makes them face memories that they have learned to handle in different ways but never managed to escape.
The cinematography enhances the emotional intensity of the film: stark lighting, dull colors, and close-ups linger in a way that creates a visual space in which the silence can be heard and the presence is threatening. Minimalism is adopted by the directors, and the atmosphere does most of the talking when there is not much dialogue. Such a decision not only supports the emotional repression of the brothers but also supports the main idea of the film: there are wounds that cannot be articulated. Soulful, reflective and implacably depressing, 'Ruins' is a powerful examination of broken brotherhood and the shadows of childhood tragedy. It is haunting even when its last frame is over, similar to its protagonists who are not able to forget their memories.
Review written by Vlad A.G