In the 1960’s and 70’s, experiments on animals in the United States were performed to decode human love and connection at the peak of the “Behaviorism” movement. These psychological tests grew from Pavlov’s Dog to Little Albert, conditioning animals and children to connect rewards to stimuli-based controls set up for specific results: derived from training but imploding into significant trauma. By the 1980’s, manufactured response programs were banned.  

Buzzheart kicks off in 1995 Athens (Greek Mardi Gras), 6 days before Clean Monday. Eighteen-year-old Argyri is at a massage parlor and meets Mary, his assigned therapist who gauges his desire and promptly provides him with a happy ending - the reason he came in.

Yes. I went there. Move along now.  

Within a smitten minute, he is pulled toward the alluring young woman, who invites him to her parents’ home for a long weekend that hints at something far more dangerous than romantic. Not exactly a normal first date you would expect, but Argyri isn’t an everyday guy. Although hesitant and somewhat shy, his intrigue takes over at the hopes of being accepted by her folks to date their daughter and live happily ever after.

Mary’s mom, Sandra and dad, Yorgos immediately drill Argyri in a massive bombardment of questions about his relationship with Mary. When did they meet? Where? How? The intensity almost knocks him down with the “what have I gotten myself into??” predicament before fixating on his new girlfriend’s warm and consoling smile. Warned earlier of their strangeness, the young man interprets this inquisition as nothing more than protective concern for their beloved daughter. Parental instinct, perhaps—but with an edge that feels deeply wrong.

With some minor interruptions during the young couple’s quiet time, Sandra (who was once a very brilliant and prominent psychologist) and Yorgos (a successful pediatrician), begin testing Argyri’s intuition with some extremely awkward and unsettling queries such as “how often do you masturbate?” While Mary holds her grin in place, Argyri’s jaw drops lower with each interrogation over the next 3 days which escalate into intrusive, troubling and even violent interactions between the family.  

During the course of their visit, imagery of Sandra’s blackboard notes, list various behavioral values such as courage, integrity, patience and honesty receive positive/negative grades bestowed upon Argyri’s mannerisms and conduct. His interest in Mary moves into emotional territory when she reveals fuzzy memories of being part of mom’s experiments such as Buzzheart, the plush heart pillow which was forced upon her to hug tightly, otherwise generating a shock of electricity which was an interpretation of her love for mommy dearest. Her traumatic experience may have only become manifested in her mind, causing Mary to have misplaced gaps of time without a firm conclusion of its truth.  

While Mary comes to terms with her erratic relationship with the parents, Argyri is pushed into a few more uncomfortable situations such as diving into a filthy leaf-filled pool and standing in the center of a fenced field near a wild horse, to prove his undying love and endurance to overcome any hardship with Mary by his side.

Conquering fear of the unknown.

In retrospect, this is yet another tool to measure his devotion regardless of the ambiguous exercises which ensues.  

On-going games continue all the while taking their toll on both Mary and Argyri’s psyche. We learn about her sensitivity, her medical condition, and the obscure relationship she has with Sandra and Yorgos. Buzzheart is not a typical nor conventional psychological thriller. What is the main purpose of the experimental torment being thrown at poor Argyri? And is Mary the antagonistic mastermind behind the elicit threat to his safety? This pattern of sociopathology being encrypted into the young minds is a delusional strategy driven by a mom (and dad) whose motives are eventually exposed. And quite wildly unpredictable! You will not want to miss the buzz behind this curtain of a fractured family and the magnitude of their own unstable actions. Creepy.