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Head On

Head On

Drama · 1998

Nineteen-year-old Ari confronts both his sexuality and his Greek family. Ari despises his once-beloved parents, former radical activists, for having entombed themselves in insular tradition. Ari is obsessed with gay sex, although he does make an unenthusiastic attempt to satisfy the sister of one of his best friends. While all of this is going on, he's facing problems with his traditional Greek parents, who have no clue about his sexual activities.

Movie details

Head On

“Full on. All night. Come on.”

1998 Drama 1h 44m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.2 / 10

Community rating

Nineteen-year-old Ari confronts both his sexuality and his Greek family. Ari despises his once-beloved parents, former radical activists, for having entombed themselves in insular tradition. Ari is obsessed with gay sex, although he does make an unenthusiastic attempt to satisfy the sister of one of his best friends. While all of this is going on, he's facing problems with his traditional Greek parents, who have no clue about his sexual activities.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Head On?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Ana Kokkinos

Written by

Mira Robertson · Ana Kokkinos · Andrew Bovell

Alex Dimitriades

Alex Dimitriades

Ari

Paul Capsis

Paul Capsis

Johnny

Julian Garner

Julian Garner

Sean

Elena Mandalis

Elena Mandalis

Betty

Tony Nikolakopoulos

Tony Nikolakopoulos

Dimitri

Damien Fotiou

Damien Fotiou

Joe

E

Eugenia Fragos

Sophia

Court is in session

Put Head On on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.