This indie film is a really powerful look at how a community can suffocate you and the hidden corners young people have to find just to be themselves in so many European towns, even with all the progress we've seen lately. The whole story plays out while the town is bracing for a massive, raging flood, and you just can't shake the feeling that some kind of intense reckoning or unavoidable doom is headed their way. To be honest, I didn't go in with super high expectations, but the way it’s put together makes it a seriously compelling watch. Plus, it’s not every day you get to see an LGBT-themed movie coming out of Croatia! The story follows Marko, a popular 18-year-old kid who seems to have it all—he’s got a girlfriend, he’s a competitive arm wrestler, and he’s well-liked at school. When he isn't in class, he’s usually hanging out with his brother, who has a disability, or helping his mom out in her greenhouse. Everything gets flipped upside down when a guy named Slaven ...
Aske and his brother Bastian are very young. We soon see that their father doesn't mind pimping his 11 year old son to his friend Hans for some money, which leads us to believe that the father himself has been abusing the child bot physically and sexually. When the mother finds out, she ends up in an accident and dies, leaving the 2 brothers at the mercy of their father. Five years pass and we see that the father is a drunk man still verbally and physically abusing the kids. Aske makes sure he takes as much care for his little brother Bastian as he can. Their father forces Aske to star in pedophilic home made porn videos where he is forced to have sex with paying strangers. Aske does whatever his father tells him to since there is the lingering threat of Bastian having to replace him if he doesn’t perform well. Of course this affects Aske's social life where even his best friend fails to understand Aske's behavior. One night when Aske goes for a party on insistence by his friend, their father ends up abusing Bastian. This is when Aske tells his friend what has been happening with them and he helps them escape to their cabin in Norway. Sadly, Aske's misery doesn't just end here. Their father manages to escape their home after killing Aske's best friend and finds where the boys are and ends up killing Bastian before killing himself.
As I mentioned before, this film is not an easy watch. The film is shot which feels like a hand held camera which is very distracting and shaky initially but you eventually get used to it. Not sure if this was due to budget (I doubt it) or more of a conscious choice because giving it a "home video" feel makes it even more creepy, tragic and utmost uncomfortable to watch. The abuse scenes, both sexual and physical, are not easy to watch at all. They feel very very real and huge props need to be given to all actors and the director to portray their roles so well. I hope they conducted proper workshops before filiming this film because a subject like this can scar you mentally for life. As audience, you are not sure why Aske is not leaving home or retaliating, but you realize that years of mental, and physical abuse, telling the kids that they are good for nothing take away all the power and energy that they have for themselves. In their mind, he is still their father and he probably has the right to do whatever with them that he wants to do. I was hoping that there maybe a positive ending and a ray of hope for Aske and his brother having endured so much pain, but instead we see just how hopeless, never ending, horrific the sexual abuse of children really is. The film is grin through and through. The only signs of hope you see are when the two brothers are together and how Aske's aim in life is to protect his brother at any cost and for him to not go through the hell that he has been going on as a kid. Some scenes in the film were unnecessary and could have been avoided but I guess the idea was to show the extent to which some pedophiles will go. I want to praise the actors and the maker for making something so real that you really hate the character and you feel for the young boys. You want to protect them, but as I write this, I am going through all kinds of emotions.
It is admirable that a film is trying to show an honest, raw depiction of child abuse, but this is nota kind of film I will go around recommending. I am glad I saw it, but it is a very very very uncomfortable watch and I have never ever been so affected by a film so much that I affected by sleep and pysche. It id a brutal and a powerful film. It will take me a few days to detach myself from this one. Read this and decide on your own if you have the stomach to watch this. (8/10)
Comments
ONe scene that grossed me out was when the father and his friend travel to another town to meet a 11 and 12 year old. That was disgusting and absolutely not needed.
The scene where the father hit bastian over spilled food and aske cant do anything about it. I really felt bad for them. Aske is a really loving brother, love how he comforts him and wanted to protect him at all cost even if it cause him being a sex slave by his own father.
Truth to be told, after watching these I’ve look for a gay comedy film to lighten the mood and end up watching "Another gay movie" I’m not really fan of this kind of movie. But it helps a lit bit.