First Hit: There is nothing funny about this dark descending film.
I’ve never been in a theater where one-fifth of the audience walked out of a film.
Granted, there were only 20 people in the audience to begin with, but 4 people walked out before it finished.
I don’t blame them as this was a dark violent film with little or no redeeming value. I’m not sure why this film was made or if there was an overriding point to the film, but if it was a commentary on the violence in the United States (or the world) it didn’t make this statement very well because on three occasions
Michael Pitt looks straight at the camera and talks to the audience. This alone puts the film in a different category than simple statement about violence.
If it was a commentary that people like me would pay money to see a family brutalized, then I hope people read this review and don’t go. Were there positive aspects of this film? Yes, there were some extended shots that were revealing, exposing real tragedy, and well directed plus there was a momentary bright spot when Naomi Watts shoots one of the perpetrators.
However because his accomplice doesn’t like that his partner got shot, he picks up the television remote control, rewinds the entire scene and then plays it back differently. But these few bright spots don’t make a good film.
The simple story line is two young men, of which we know nothing of their background, go from house to house killing the residents in this upscale lakeside community. Why? We don’t really know except that they are hungry, especially for eggs.
The story primarily focuses on the killing of one family consisting of Naomi Watts, Tim Roth and Devon Gearhart. Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet play the deranged young men who look and feel upscale but set out to find victims, punish them with their games, kill them, and then move on to another family.
Overall: I found virtually no redeeming value to this film and wouldn’t recommend it at any level to anyone.