BIOPOWER PRACTICES IN THE CINEMA OF YORGOS LANTHIMOS

Yorgos Lanthimos is one of the prominent directors of modern cinema, known for his unique narrative style and visual aesthetics. His films, which are included in the "Greek Weird Wave" movement, are shaped around themes that question social norms, power relations, and the individual's place within these structures. Michel Foucault's concepts of biopolitics and biopower, which explain how the state controls social life, provide a powerful theoretical framework for analyzing Lanthimos' filmography. The absolute control of parents over their children in Dogtooth, the forced societal couplehood in The Lobster, and the dependence of individuals' fates on the decisions of others in The Killing of a Sacred Deer illustrate how Lanthimos addresses power relations. This study aims to show that the director's films offer a deep critique that questions power structures in modern society, especially by analyzing Lanthimos' early films and his latest film Kind of Kindness in the context of Foucault's concept of biopower.