Plot Explained Spoilers guaranteed!
Plot Explained

Browse by genre

Alps (2012) movie poster

Timeline

Alps (2012) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language
2012 · 93 min · Greek
Directed by
Giorgos Lanthimos
Starring
Ariane Labed, Aggeliki Papoulia, Aris Servetalis, Johnny Vekris, Stavros Psyllakis

A unique team offers a remarkable and sensitive service: they impersonate deceased loved ones for those struggling with loss. Led by the mysterious Mont Blanc, the group members each possess distinct talents that allow them to convincingly portray the departed. As they navigate the emotional landscape of grieving clients, the team members grapple with their own hidden motivations and the profound complexities of human grief and letting go.

On this page (6)
  1. 1 Events in order (13)
  2. 2 Timeline questions answered
  3. 3 Movie threads
  4. 4 Movies like Alps
  5. 5 Categories
  6. 6 Every angle

13 events in order · contains spoilers

Alps Timeline: Events in Chronological Order

Every key event of Alps (2012) in order, scene by scene, with when and where it takes place. Use it to untangle flashbacks, time jumps and parallel storylines, to refresh your memory before the sequel or to find the exact scene you are thinking of.

  1. Practice to Carmina Burana

    A rhythmic gymnast rehearses a routine set to Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. The rehearsal showcases her precision and the rigid authority of her coach. A tense power dynamic begins to surface as the coach asserts control.

    When
    early in film
    Where
    Gym
  2. Demand for pop song and coach's threat

    After the practice, she tells her coach she would rather use a pop song. He dismisses pop as inappropriate and threatens to break her arms and legs if she questions him again. She apologizes, chastened.

    When
    immediately after practice
    Where
    Gym
  3. Alps organization introduction

    Alps is introduced as an unusual organization that meets in the gym where the gymnast trains. For a fee, a substitute acts as a recently deceased person during visits with loved ones to aid the grieving process. The core members are the gymnast, her coach Matterhorn, the nurse Monte Rosa, and Mont Blanc the EMT.

    When
    early in film
    Where
    Gym
  4. Mont Blanc's hospital case and Monte Rosa's study

    Mont Blanc, the leader, treats a severely injured young tennis player in hospital. Monte Rosa is on the care team and begins studying the patient to collect information for a possible substitution. The nurse's curiosity signals growing interest in Alps' methods.

    When
    early to mid
    Where
    Hospital
  5. Tennis player's death and substitution offer

    The tennis player dies, leaving the family in mourning. Monte Rosa offers her services to the grieving parents, while telling the others that the girl has recovered.

    When
    after death
    Where
    Tennis player's home
  6. Alps clients and procedural rules

    The Alps' clients include a man mourning an old friend, a blind woman, and the lamp shop owner. The clients dictate what the members should wear, do, and say, and the group constructs scenarios for emotionally intimate, though mostly transactional, interactions.

    When
    mid
    Where
    Alps facility
  7. Affairs within Alps: kiss and sex

    Matterhorn regularly kisses the blind woman, showing boundary-crossing affection. Monte Rosa also has sex with the lamp shop owner, illustrating the group's morally ambiguous dynamics.

    When
    mid
    Where
    Alps facility
  8. Monte Rosa prepares to substitute the tennis girl

    Monte Rosa visits the tennis player's parents to learn to imitate their daughter. They reenact a scene with the dead boyfriend, and Monte Rosa takes the boyfriend to the home she shares with her father and sleeps with him.

    When
    mid
    Where
    Monte Rosa's home
  9. Suspicion and confrontation

    The other Alps members grow suspicious when Monte Rosa misses meetings and lies about her whereabouts. Mont Blanc tails her to the tennis player's house and uncovers the truth. He arranges to meet Monte Rosa in the gym, hits her in the face with a training club, and ejects her from the group.

    When
    late
    Where
    Alps gym
  10. Monte Rosa's family confrontation

    Monte Rosa returns home and asks her father about her deceased mother's favorite actor and singer; he slaps her. The moment exposes a volatile, unsettling dynamic between daughter and father.

    When
    post-confrontation
    Where
    Monte Rosa's home
  11. Ballroom confrontation

    She visits a ballroom with her father and aggressively tries to dance with his dance partner and his new girlfriend, not stopping even after the woman has fallen. The behavior underscores her deteriorating sense of boundaries.

    When
    late
    Where
    Ballroom
  12. Break-in at tennis player's house

    Monte Rosa returns to the tennis player's house, breaks through a sliding-glass door, triggering an alarm. She goes to the tennis player's room and gets into bed, but the parents enter and forcibly throw her out, lowering a metal shutter over the door while Monte Rosa shuffles on the patio.

    When
    final
    Where
    Tennis player's house
  13. Final performance and coach moment

    The gymnast performs elegantly to 'Popcorn' while Matterhorn looks on proudly. After finishing, she runs into his arms and tells him he is the best coach in the world, echoing a bizarre, sadomasochistic moment earlier in the story. Her smile fades, hinting at the emotional cost of the relationship.

    When
    final
    Where
    Gym

Last updated: October 09, 2025 at 16:22

Was this helpful?

Timeline questions answered

Alps Timeline Explained: Your Questions Answered

When does it happen, and why in that order? The questions people ask about the chronology of Alps (2012): time jumps, flashbacks, cause and effect between scenes and the correct order of events, each answered with spoilers.

Q1

Why does Monte Rosa secretly offer to substitute for the tennis player?

Monte Rosa becomes emotionally entangled with the grieving family and secretly offers her services after the tennis player dies. She tells the Alps group that the girl has recovered, hiding her real intentions. This unauthorized substitution violates the group's rules but stems from Monte Rosa's growing personal investment in the case, having studied the girl extensively while on her hospital care team.

  • monte rosa
  • tennis player
  • substitution
  • grief
  • betrayal
Q2

Why is Monte Rosa kicked out of Alps?

Mont Blanc discovers that Monte Rosa has been secretly visiting the tennis player's family and offering unauthorized substitutions while lying to the group about her whereabouts. After tailing her to the family's home, Mont Blanc confronts Monte Rosa in the gym, strikes her in the face with a training club, and ejects her from the organization for breaking the core rules of secrecy and proper procedure.

  • monte rosa
  • mont blanc
  • ejection
  • expelled
  • betrayal
  • rules
Q3

Why does Monte Rosa sleep with the tennis player's boyfriend?

While preparing to substitute for the deceased tennis player, Monte Rosa reenacts a scene with the girl's boyfriend to perfect her imitation. She then takes him home and has sex with him, blurring the line between performance and personal desire. This act demonstrates how Monte Rosa's emotional involvement has crossed beyond professional boundaries into something more personal and predatory.

  • monte rosa
  • boyfriend
  • sex
  • imitation
  • boundary crossing
Q4

Why does Monte Rosa's father slap her?

After being ejected from Alps, Monte Rosa returns home and asks her father about her deceased mother's favorite actor and singer. When she pursues him physically, he slaps her. This violent response reveals the volatile, unsettling dynamic between them and suggests deeper family trauma, with Monte Rosa seeking connection through her mother's memory in a disturbed way.

  • monte rosa
  • father
  • slap
  • mother
  • family trauma
Q5

What happens to Monte Rosa at the end of the film?

Monte Rosa returns to the tennis player's house one final time, breaking through a sliding-glass door and entering the girl's bedroom. The parents discover her and forcibly remove her from the home, lowering a metal shutter over the door while she shuffles on the patio. This climactic scene shows her unable to let go, wandering into the very space she was meant to impersonate.

  • monte rosa
  • break-in
  • parents
  • shutter
  • ending
Q6

Why does the gymnast call Matterhorn "the best in the world"?

After her final performance to "Popcorn," the gymnast runs into her coach's arms and tells him he is the best in the world. This echoes an earlier disturbing moment when Matterhorn threatened to break her arms and legs if she questioned him. The statement reflects the calculated obedience and power dynamic between them, suggesting a conditioned, masochistic devotion rather than genuine admiration.

  • gymnast
  • matterhorn
  • best in the world
  • performance
  • coach relationship
Q7

Why does Matterhorn threaten to break the gymnast's arms and legs?

After a practice session, the gymnast tells her coach Matterhorn she would prefer to use a pop song for her routine instead of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. He dismisses pop as inappropriate and threatens to break her arms and legs if she questions him again. This establishes the tense, controlling power dynamic between them, where obedience is enforced through fear and implied violence.

  • matterhorn
  • gymnast
  • threat
  • arms
  • legs
  • pop song
Q8

What triggers the alarm at the tennis player's house?

Monte Rosa returns to the tennis player's house after being ejected from Alps and breaks through a sliding-glass door to enter. This triggers the home's security alarm. She goes to the tennis player's room and gets into bed, only to be confronted by the parents who throw her out and seal the scene with a metal shutter.

  • monte rosa
  • alarm
  • break-in
  • sliding door
  • shutter
Q9

Why does Monte Rosa have sex with the lamp shop owner?

While impersonating the deceased girlfriend of a lamp shop owner, Monte Rosa crosses the explicit boundary prohibiting sexual relations with clients. She has sex with him anyway, illustrating the moral ambiguity that pervades the Alps organization. This act underscores how the line between professional performance and personal fulfillment has blurred for Monte Rosa.

  • monte rosa
  • lamp shop owner
  • sex
  • client
  • boundary crossing
Q10

How does Mont Blanc discover Monte Rosa's secret?

The other Alps members grow suspicious when Monte Rosa misses meetings and fabricates explanations for her absences. Mont Blanc then follows her to the tennis player's family home, where he discovers her carrying out unauthorized substitutions. This surveillance leads to the confrontation in the gym where he ejects her from the group.

  • mont blanc
  • monte rosa
  • discovery
  • surveillance
  • secret
Q11

Why does the gymnast take over Monte Rosa's substitution role?

After Monte Rosa is ejected from Alps, the gymnast steps in to assume her role as the tennis player substitute. She stitches up a cheek wound to prepare and returns to the family with what the film frames as a new, troubling method of grief work. This promotion demonstrates her ambition to rise within the organization's hierarchy.

  • gymnast
  • tennis player
  • substitute
  • promotion
  • monte rosa role
Q12

Why does Matterhorn kiss the blind woman client?

Matterhorn regularly kisses the blind woman, who is a client of Alps seeking to reconnect with her deceased husband. This affectionate boundary-crossing occurs despite the organization's explicit rules forbidding sexual relations with clients. The kiss demonstrates how the power dynamics within Alps allow members to overstep professional boundaries.

  • matterhorn
  • blind woman
  • kiss
  • client
  • boundaries

Movie threads

More Movies Like Alps, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Alps tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Movies that clinically dissect emotion like Alps

Movies that observe raw human feeling through a detached, analytical lens. Find movies like Alps that explore intense feelings with a detached, analytical perspective. If you liked the clinical and observational approach to grief in Alps, these similar dramas and psychological stories will appeal to you.

  • clinical
  • dissociative
  • unsettling
  • chilling
  • detached
  • somber
  • Tone: dark, detached, unsettling
  • Pacing: slow, deliberate
Why these movies?

The story pattern: Stories in this thread often center on characters or institutions that interact with profound emotions in a transactional or methodological way. The narrative follows the disquieting gap between the raw emotional experience and the cold, systematic framework imposed upon it, leading to questions about authenticity and the nature of feeling itself.

Why they belong together: These films are grouped by their shared tone of detachment and their intellectual approach to heavy themes. They prioritize creating an atmosphere of psychological unease through a cool, almost antiseptic presentation, making the emotional content feel even more potent by contrast.

Movies about identity crisis and performance like Alps

Stories where the line between a performed role and true self becomes dangerously blurred. Discover movies similar to Alps that explore themes of impersonation and identity crisis. If you were fascinated by the Alps group's morally ambiguous service and the blurring of reality, these psychological dramas and thrillers about performance will captivate you.

  • unsettling
  • identity crisis
  • moral ambiguity
  • performative
  • dissociative
  • somber
  • Tone: dark, morally ambiguous, melancholic
  • Pacing: slow, psychological
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative pattern involves characters who are experts at mimicking others, but this skill becomes a trap. As they delve deeper into their performances, their own sense of self fractures, leading to a crisis where the imitation threatens to replace reality. The plot often builds towards an ambiguous conclusion that questions if any 'true' identity remains.

Why they belong together: These movies share a focus on the psychological danger of living a double life or a performed existence. They create a specific vibe of unease through themes of moral ambiguity, transactional relationships, and the haunting question of what constitutes a genuine identity.

If you liked this

Movies Like Alps

Similar movies to Alps: the same genre, themes or kind of story. Each one comes with its own plot summary, timeline and ending explained.

Browse all movie summaries

Categories

Movie Lists Featuring Alps

Alps appears in these hand-built movie categories. Each one groups movies by a specific mood, theme or story type, with their plot summaries and endings explained.

View all movie categories

Every angle

Alps (2012) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about Alps in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

Coming soon on iOS and Android

The Plot Explained Movie Summary App

Plot summaries, endings explained and timelines on your phone. Catch up on any movie in minutes, save your favorites and never miss a twist again.

Be the first to know when we launch. Your email stays private, always.

Learn more about the app