A Teenager, an Ogre, and the Weight of Choice

MOVIE REVIEW
The Tree of Knowledge (A Árvore do Conhecimento)
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Genre: Dark Comedy, Fantasy
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 1h 41m
Director(s): Eugène Green
Writer(s): Eugène Green
Cast: Rui Pedro Silva, Ana Moreira, Diogo Dória, João Arrais, Leonor Silveira, Maria Gomes, Teresa Madruga, José Manuel Mendes
Where to Watch: shown at the 2025 Fantastic Fest

RAVING REVIEW: THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE arrives with the precision of a parable and the weight of a cautionary tale. Directed by Eugène Green, the film is steeped in his signature style — deliberate, poetic, and slightly otherworldly. Still, this time, it is framed around the cultural and social shifts reshaping Lisbon. While his visuals have often used spiritual allegories to comment on fractured societies, here the target is both timely and universal: unchecked tourism, the commodification of culture, and the moral choices left to those who inherit a changing world.

At its heart, the story follows Gaspard, played with vulnerability by Rui Pedro Silva. A teenager from the suburbs, drawn into the clutches of an Ogre who has made a pact with the Devil. This figure, played by Diogo Dória, is a monstrous representation of greed and destruction, using Gaspard to lure tourists whom he transforms into animals before killing. It is an allegory that borders on the distorted, but in Green’s hands, the excess becomes symbolic rather than sensational.

Silva’s performance anchors the film, giving depth to Green’s often stylized direction. Gaspard’s journey is less about survival than awakening. When he escapes, the film opens into its most poignant moments. In an enchanted manor, he encounters Queen Maria I, portrayed with solemnity by Ana Moreira. This figure embodies Portugal’s historical memory and the voice of wisdom and restraint, challenging Gaspard to confront the pull of violence within himself.

Dialogues are often spoken with a measured cadence, as if recited from scripture. This choice may not appeal to every viewer, but it effectively reinforces the allegorical tone. What could have been a straightforward fantasy becomes a moral exercise, asking the audience to lean in, to wrestle with the same internal debates as its protagonist. Cinematographer Raphaël O’Byrne captures Lisbon in aesthetic frames — not the postcard city of travel brochures, but a layered, conflicted landscape. Empty streets, worn facades, and pockets of quiet beauty create the impression of a town under siege by external and spiritual forces. The color palette shifts between muted earth tones and sudden flourishes, underscoring the clash between destruction and renewal.

One of the most compelling aspects of the film is Green’s willingness to make the Ogre both absurd and terrifying. His pact with the Devil could have been presented as pure horror, but instead it unfolds with tragic humor. The tourists, portrayed as herds without identity, are less individuals than symbols of consumption. Here is not simply the Ogre’s violence but the casualness of those who walk into it — blissfully unaware, or uninterested, in the destruction they leave behind.

Yet, Green resists making this purely a screed against outsiders. The deeper message, spelled out in his director’s note, is that anger can consume those who wield it. Gaspard begins with a justified rage, disgusted by the transformation of his city, but the challenge is how to channel that fury. The temptation to strike back, to become the very monster he despises, looms over him at every turn. The TREE OF KNOWLEDGE in the title becomes a metaphor for moral awakening — the choice between compassion and hate, destructive power and spiritual renewal.

At 101 minutes, the film is never rushed; for some, its meditative rhythm may prove too slow-paced. However, the slowness is intentional, prompting viewers to linger in the discomfort of making choices and facing their consequences. It’s not a film that trades in suspense or spectacle; rather, it builds toward a realization that the greatest threat is not the Ogre but the ease with which anger can tip into cruelty.

For longtime followers of Green, THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE fits neatly into his body of work — contemplative, spiritual, and resistant to mainstream storytelling conventions. Few filmmakers could weave theatricality, Lisbon’s upheaval, and a fantasy tale about devils and donkeys into something coherent. Yet, Green achieves this by refusing to simplify his moral question: when faced with injustice, do you destroy or rebuild?

The film doesn’t hand its audience a resolution. Instead, it leaves space for reflection, much like its closing images, which suggest fragility and resilience. Green’s message is less about condemning tourists than about urging compassion in the face of anger. In a world where outrage can so easily harden into violence, THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE argues for another path that begins with acknowledging the rage but choosing not to be consumed by it.

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[photo courtesy of LE PLEIN DE SUPER, O SOM E A FÚRIA]

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