This review may contain spoilers
An Art film to discomfort you in best way.
This was my first time watching an art film, and it truly felt like a fever dream — disorienting, emotionally intense, and deeply symbolic. It's the kind of film that doesn’t hand you clear answers. Instead, it sits with you like a riddle, asking you to feel first and understand later.
At its core, 30 Years of Adonis explores karma, suffering, and rebirth. There’s so much layered in the film I'm still having trouble processing it.
One scene that especially stuck with me was the graphic SA scene — it was hard to watch, yet strangely revealing. The more I think about it, the more I realize:
the entire film is explained in that one sequence.
He’s tied up = he’s bound by fate
He tries to resist = he fights back against injustice, life, and karma
He cries but endures = the soul screams, but the body is powerless
He gives up = the moment of surrender, or perhaps acceptance
It was the most emotionally devastating moment — not just because of what was happening, but because of what it symbolized.
Toward the end, we learn that everything Adonis went through was a consequence of his past life — his suffering was the karmic debt of someone who had caused harm. It feels cruel and unjust. How much pain is enough to repay a past life?
But despite that, the film leaves you with a quiet, lingering hope:
> Maybe, in his next life, he’ll find peace.
This isn’t a film for everyone — it doesn’t comfort, it doesn’t entertain in the traditional sense.
But it leaves something behind, something to ponder for a long time.
And I think that’s the point.
— Sanjana
At its core, 30 Years of Adonis explores karma, suffering, and rebirth. There’s so much layered in the film I'm still having trouble processing it.
One scene that especially stuck with me was the graphic SA scene — it was hard to watch, yet strangely revealing. The more I think about it, the more I realize:
the entire film is explained in that one sequence.
He’s tied up = he’s bound by fate
He tries to resist = he fights back against injustice, life, and karma
He cries but endures = the soul screams, but the body is powerless
He gives up = the moment of surrender, or perhaps acceptance
It was the most emotionally devastating moment — not just because of what was happening, but because of what it symbolized.
Toward the end, we learn that everything Adonis went through was a consequence of his past life — his suffering was the karmic debt of someone who had caused harm. It feels cruel and unjust. How much pain is enough to repay a past life?
But despite that, the film leaves you with a quiet, lingering hope:
> Maybe, in his next life, he’ll find peace.
This isn’t a film for everyone — it doesn’t comfort, it doesn’t entertain in the traditional sense.
But it leaves something behind, something to ponder for a long time.
And I think that’s the point.
— Sanjana
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