Strella

Yiorgos Mihalopoulos is released after fourteen years of incarceration for murder in his Greek village. He walks out into the world with cautious hope, leaving the prison behind as his first breath of freedom. The new life ahead feels fragile and uncertain.

On his first night of freedom, Yiorgos stays at a cheap Athens hotel where he meets Strella, a young prostitute who will become central to his story. He quickly learns that Strella is a trans woman, adding complexity to his plans. The encounter foreshadows a complicated bond between them.

Yiorgos travels to his rural village, hoping to reconnect with his son Leonidas. He searches and contemplates whether Leonidas can forgive him, trying to map a way back into his family. The distance between past crime and possible reunion weighs on him.

Strella invites Yiorgos for whiskey, and their attraction leads to sex. The encounter deepens their complicated relationship and blurs lines of family, desire, and fate. He remains drawn to her despite the uncertainty surrounding their identities.

Strella performs at a club called The Dolls, while Yiorgos begins to spend more time with her and eventually moves out of the hotel to stay at her place. Their bond grows as he navigates the dangerous terrain of desire and secrecy. The world Strella inhabits becomes his new anchor.

Yiorgos continues to search for his son and learns of a Leonidas who works as a police officer. He chooses not to reveal himself, keeping his motive hidden as he watches from a distance. The discovery adds tension and a hint of revelation to his journey.

Back in the village, Yiorgos sells the family home to a retired cop, Kouloukousis, while rumors swirl that Leonidas is not a cop but a woman working as a prostitute in Athens. The rumors fuel his suspicions that Strella and Leonidas are connected. He begins to piece together a troubling map of his past.

Yiorgos confronts Strella about her past as she shares her own traumatic history with abuse and incest, mirroring the crime Yiorgos committed years before. She recounts a young girl coerced by her uncle and the violence that followed, explaining how she was raised and left behind. The revelation reframes both of their lives.

The next day, Yiorgos reveals that he is Strella's father, enraged by the incest. Alex arrives with a bag that exposes Strella's prior knowledge of his release, confirming she knew all along and wanted to meet him. The tension peaks as the truth about their bond comes into brutal relief.

Yiorgos confronts Strella over the decades of pain and knowledge, and for a moment, he considers leaving. Strella begs him to stay and continues to pine for a life together, even as the truth tests their fragile alliance. The couple teeters on the edge of breaking apart.

Strella visits Mary, the ailing trans woman who helped raise her, and Mary admonishes the nature of Strella's relationship with Yiorgos. They discuss a future that Mary says cannot exist, and Strella's choices are called into question. Mary later dies by morphine overdose, shaking the fragile ties between them.

In a fragile, hopeful turn, Yiorgos fully reconciles with Strella and they live together again with Strella's friends and Alex's sister. They host a New Year's Eve gathering, inviting old companions to celebrate a hard-won second chance. The year ends with a quiet, uneasy peace between them.