Directed by Nicholas Dimitropoulos, Don’t Laugh, They’ll See You is a restrained and emotionally charged feature set between a seaside village in northeastern Attica and the city of Athens. The film follows Maria, a woman in her forties, who returns to the town for her mother’s memorial and discovers she is unexpectedly pregnant. In the tension between faith, guilt and freedom, the story unfolds as a study of self-acceptance, framed within the subtle poetics of everyday life. The production premiered at the 66th Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF 66) in 2025.
The design concept drew from the film’s central opposition between seclusion and exposure. The city apartment and the family beach house—spaces shaped by Maria’s mother and later by her sister—were designed to subtly underline Maria’s absence. Their interiors reflect a world dominated by other people’s sensibilities, leaving no room for her own. Against this inherited domestic order, Maria’s disapproval is tangible from the very first scene.
The visual language sought to express her resistance and the tension between belonging and self-definition. The palette leans towards pale, desaturated tones punctuated by bold colour touches, suggesting moments of assertion within control. Each set was treated as a lived-in environment—authentic, tactile, and emotionally charged—rather than a symbolic backdrop.
For the remaining locations, the scenography approached the story’s emotional weight with deliberate restraint. Since the narrative already carries its own gravity, these environments were designed to offer balance—spaces that are visually composed and quietly luminous rather than bleak. Their warmth and openness allowed the viewer to breathe with Maria, while still mirroring her state of transition and the fragility of her calm.
