Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Rob Broekhof This movie is the first ever that I have rated a well deserved one out of ten. The only reason to watch this movie is when you have an extreme need to belong to the elite and are bored with your life beyond total depression. I finalize my review in eight more lines and in accordance with how I feel about this movie. So first a minor change to get to the fourth line and I will combine it with another minor change to get introduced to the fifth line. The fifth line contains no more than the other lines before. This is line six which follows line five. Line seven makes me wonder whether I need to get to eleven because it still says that my review is not ready for submission. Again I'll make another minor change with line eight. With line nine you're right about ready to finish reading this review. Finally line ten, which is very similar to the end of the movie.

chrisgoscha I have mixed feelings about this film especially after reading explanations after viewing it. I was immediately intrigued by this film after watching the trailer months ago. Overall, I enjoyed it although it had a disturbing quality to it that I cannot shake maybe because I didn't fully understand the motivations behind the actions. I had a general idea what was happening throughout the movie but was still confused at times and did not understand all of the symbolism.The storyline regarding the children was the most confusing to me. They had unwavering trust toward Camiel from the get go and were completely docile without showing any humanity. If they would have been portrayed as 'normal' children from the start, then their eventual manipulation would have been much more disturbing. The 'mark of Satan' on the children baffled me as well because they made it seem like some type of procedure had been done with similar effects to a lobotomy or something. This was before I knew it was supposed to be the 'mark of Satan' which the viewer previously saw on Camiel as well. I honestly think giving them a brand or a tattoo would have been more effective (but maybe too obvious?).As the film progressed, I kept wondering what is Camiel's goal in all of this as he didn't seem to have any motivation and was just a very intelligent but insane person. Now I understand that he basically was recruiting minions and trying to have 'fun' at it all the while. All of the efforts to manipulate and kill when it did not seem necessary was more or less just a game to achieve desired results. I also don't fully realize why he didn't take the wife who had obviously fallen under his control.If you are a more intelligent person than I (which is likely) and figure out all of the symbolism and motivations while the film happens, I could see this film being very rewarding. With my lack of religious and folklore knowledge, I was admittedly pretty lost at times but still enjoyed it while having a general idea what ultimately was happening. If you know the story and everything ahead of time, I could actually see this being kind of boring and unrewarding. So basically, I fell in the middle and liked the movie but could see myself on either side of the fence depending on some prerequisite knowledge.

jasonlock-11608 There was a time when every single distributed film didn't need to be a perfect lesson in character psychology, motive and naturalistic behaviour. I'm as bored of it in indie films as blockbusters.Thankfully someone in the Netherlands still has a sense of absurd humour. I don't need reasons for everything, thanks. I don't need to align a symbolic meaning with everything I see (I bet this drives some people nuts trying to interpret every image) I can make my own mind up, and appreciate this Director for giving me the space to do so. Stuff happens. It's funny. It's dark. Borgman himself is a great existential force of remorselessness - the character will stay in your head for a long time, despite not understanding who he is or why he does what he does. I have my version of events, you'll have yours, just enjoy it.I saw this the same night I watched Dogtooth. What a night! Great double bill. Would go well with Holy Motors too.

brchthethird Weird and unnerving are a couple words which accurately describe the experience that is watching this film. What the film means is anyone's guess, and nothing is really spelled out or explained. This actually is a good thing, though, because the viewer can take away from it what they want. The story is about a vagrant named Borgman who insinuates himself into this affluent family's home and slowly makes life a living hell for them. The overall tone of the film is one of unease, mystery and black humor, peppered with a shock every now and then. There are several scenes which may stick with you long after finishing it, and there are a few that are still with me now. Comparing this to anything else is futile, except that if you like weird, disturbing movies (like I do), then you will probably love this. From a quality standpoint, everything is well-shot and all of the actors, including the children, give good performances as far as I can tell (Dutch isn't a language I speak). The tone of the film is also set very well by the score, which is off-kilter and dissonant. Since it is best to go into this film with as little information as possible, I'll end here. Suffice it to say, if you're brave enough to give this a try, you might end up liking it as I did.