It’s an expression of the purest, most genuine endearment that Iris (Maria Petrova), an 11-year-old girl in the island nation of Cyprus, displays toward her father Aris (Christos Passalis) just days after meeting him for the first time. The two of them are driving in his car. The mood is joyful since they’ve just pulled off a petty scam, and the young girl’s gaze is fixated on his bearded face, as if hoping to preserve this moment intact forever. Her visage is not one of outward excitement but of tenderness for this man who should love her.
“Hold Onto Me,” the first feature from Cypriot writer-director Myrsini Aristidou, departs from a recognizable premise — that of a child seeking affection from an estranged and ill-equipped parent — to find singular shades in the relationship it examines. Initially, neither party trusts the other, and the surprising but emotionally logical betrayal…