Where to watch: Apples is now playing in select Laemmle Theaters.

One of my favorite film genres is Greek Weird Wave. Think Dogtooth, Attenberg, and Boy Eating the Bird’s Food. Christos Nikou’s directorial debut is an enjoyably familiar yet excitingly unique story that slots perfectly into this niche canon. It’s darkly humorous; a dry and poignant study of how memories shape identity and what happens when we lose it all.

Our protagonist is Aris (Aris Servetalis), a middle-aged man who has been hit with amnesia. Amnesic spells have been spreading all across Greece, much like a pandemic, with those infected being sent to a hospital/rehab hybrid in order to either get claimed by family members or start over and rebuild a new identity.

When days pass and no one comes to claim Aris, he enters the facility’s “Learning How to Live” program. This program, led by two scientists–one of whom bears a striking resemblance to Colin Farrell in The Killing of a Sacred Deer– puts Aris through various memory tests and challenges, like riding a bike and going to the movies, which he is instructed to photograph as proof of completion. Aris is determined to live an everyday life again, and undergoes the tasks with relative ease. He meets a woman (Sofia Georgovasili) in the same identification program as himself during one of his outings and there seems to be a spark, simultaneously Aris’s memory becomes slightly less hazy. But is this the result of his new relationship, or his heavy diet of apples?

Following in the footsteps of Greek auteurs like Yorgos Lanthimos and Athina Rachel Tsangari, Christos Nikou’s sense of direction further propels the genre of “Weird Wave” forward. If you’re a fan of obscure comedy, 4:3 aspect ratios, and unconventional narratives that are far from mundane, then Apples is for you.