First and foremost, this film is not an easy one to watch and comes with a trigger warning for anyone sensitive to themes of rape and child molestation. -Spoilers-
This film is centered around the character of Klaus, an ex Nazi doctor who has presumably escaped Germany after the war. We learn from the offset that Klaus has an animal-like lust for sexually torturing and killing young children. Eventually the mental strain of this becomes too much and he attempts suicide, jumping from the rooftop of his home. Unsuccessful, Klaus is confined to a giant iron and glass lung which serves as his life support as well as his prison, as he is paralysed from the neck down.
His wife, Griselda, employs a young man, Angelo, to help care for Klaus. Unbeknown to her that Angelo was previously groomed by Klaus.
We learn that Angelo has taken on the role of Klaus, sexually assaulting and murdering young children to appease him. He does this whilst also grooming Rena, Klaus' 7 year old daughter.
-All in all when reviewing this film you need to remove your thoughts of the content and focus on how it was executed. The heavy use of blue tinting and poor lighting makes the scene feel cold and surgical in appearance. This, coupled with the portrayal of Angelo's almost emotionless character makes the film feel so much more intoxicating to watch and leaves you also speechless and cold inside as we are forced to sympathise with a paedophile. It's a film that reminds oneself of just how primal and horrific human nature can be.
The ending of Rena climbing on top of the glass cage that Angelo now inhabits gives a chilling feeling of how the cycle of abuse continues, yet creating an ending that could still be argued as ambiguous.
7/10
This film is centered around the character of Klaus, an ex Nazi doctor who has presumably escaped Germany after the war. We learn from the offset that Klaus has an animal-like lust for sexually torturing and killing young children. Eventually the mental strain of this becomes too much and he attempts suicide, jumping from the rooftop of his home. Unsuccessful, Klaus is confined to a giant iron and glass lung which serves as his life support as well as his prison, as he is paralysed from the neck down.
His wife, Griselda, employs a young man, Angelo, to help care for Klaus. Unbeknown to her that Angelo was previously groomed by Klaus.
We learn that Angelo has taken on the role of Klaus, sexually assaulting and murdering young children to appease him. He does this whilst also grooming Rena, Klaus' 7 year old daughter.
-All in all when reviewing this film you need to remove your thoughts of the content and focus on how it was executed. The heavy use of blue tinting and poor lighting makes the scene feel cold and surgical in appearance. This, coupled with the portrayal of Angelo's almost emotionless character makes the film feel so much more intoxicating to watch and leaves you also speechless and cold inside as we are forced to sympathise with a paedophile. It's a film that reminds oneself of just how primal and horrific human nature can be.
The ending of Rena climbing on top of the glass cage that Angelo now inhabits gives a chilling feeling of how the cycle of abuse continues, yet creating an ending that could still be argued as ambiguous.
7/10