“The Lion at My Back” – A Bleak Portrait of Survival and Exploitation

The film follows Stella (Kallinikou), a low-wage cleaner in her late 30s who must undergo regular urine tests to prove she is drug-free. Living with younger women who openly use substances, Stella copes only with a daily cannabis-based tincture, fearing it would betray her on the tests. She offers Mariama a futon in exchange for a clean sample, while a past as a prostitute for a pimp known only as “The Suit” (Prokopis Agathokleous) looms. Desperate for a deposit to reunite with her seven- or eight-year-old daughter, who is now raised by Stella’s mother after Stella’s incarceration, she is tempted to return to sex work. The climax depicts Stella’s forced participation in a lewd party where she is led on a leash and urinated on, filmed in lurid fluorescent lighting with techno music. Meanwhile, Mariama secures a butcher job but faces leering and hinted sexual violence from coworkers, with only one co-worker, Pantelis (Herodotos Miltiadous), appearing genuinely kind.

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• Stella (Kallinikou) – a bitter yet vulnerable cleaner haunted by past prostitution and maternal loss.

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• Mariama (Dialo) – a younger woman navigating precarious employment and exploitation.

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• “The Suit” (Prokopis Agathokleous) – a sleazy pimp who seeks to profit from both women.

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• Pantelis (Herodotos Miltiadous) – a butcher’s coworker offering a rare moment of softness.

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Reviewers note the film’s relentless bleakness, with limited humor to offset the darkness. The lead actresses display strong chemistry, and Dialo impresses despite a last-minute casting change. Kallinikou’s performance is described as “presence to burn,” though the storyline feels as familiar as a Greek tragedy stripped of poetic nuance.

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• “Her plight is observed by Stella (Kallinikou), a cleaner in her late 30s or so who not only works for low wages but also has to do regular urine tests to prove she’s not taking drugs.” — *Hollywood Reporter*

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• “He would dearly like to get Stella back in his stable, especially as she was very good back in the day at being a submissive at sex parties he organized, where customers could lead her around on a leash and urinate on her for fun.” — *Hollywood Reporter*

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• “Even worse, “The Suit” takes notice of Mariama and wants to make a deal that Stella’s “debts” to him will be paid in full if she brings him the nubile younger woman in order that he may profit from her despoilment.” — *Hollywood Reporter*

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• “It’s all a bit relentlessly bleak, even accounting for scenes where the women tentatively bond with one another, and there’s very little of the humor that made Pause’s own darkness more bearable.” — *Hollywood Reporter*

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• “Kallinikou has presence to burn, even if her tart-with-a-heart storyline is as old as a Greek tragedy but without the poetry.” — *Hollywood Reporter*

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