Shutter Island(USA) Directed by Martin Scorcese  Written by Laeta Kaligrodis  Starring Leonardo DiCaprio; Mark Ruffalo; Ben Kingsley; Max Von Sydow; Michelle Williams; Patricia Clarkson; Emily Mortimer; John Carroll Lynch; Elias Koteas; Jackie Earl Haley

The Cinema Guy usually has little interest in horror/ghost stories. Further, being no fan of the latter part of Martin Scorcese’s career, the concept of Shutter Island seemed to bode little promise from this viewer’s narrow perspective. Given Scorcese’s difficulties in regard to location and accent in the highly over praised The Departed, the fact that this, his follow-up film, was also set in the Boston area seemed to portend major problems. Surprise, Scorcese returns to creating something that feels like more than a bid for immortality in the form of Oscar gold. Rather than a paint by numbers biopic, or an action cartoon posing as crime or historical drama, we get an artistically rendered, gorgeously photographed (by consummate pro Robert Richardson) psychological exploration using well-handled touches of surrealism. There are shades of Scorcese’s Cape Fearpresent, but the film is at once more tightly contained, and also riskier in its evocation of the supernatural, than that re-make. Using Dennis Lehane’s source novel (who gets exec producer credit), a writer who shares with Scorcese a deeply rooted Catholic perspective, Scorcese takes on the personal ravages of war as it relates to memory, enhancing the better elements of the book, and (with the help of long time partner, designer Dante Ferretti), respecting Boston native Lehane’s feel for the history of the area. Set in 1954, Scorcese’s visuals are suberb, and no one would question the master’s ability to authenticate period. In DiCaprio, he has found his new age Deniro, and while their partnership has thus far yielded a selection of inferior films when compared to the incomparable former pairing, the actor’s performances have not been the problem. While DiCaprio struggled with an inconsistent (though far from the worst) Boston accent, here, as agent Teddy Daniels, he does a surprisingly solid job, improvement demonstrating continued work as he rolled into the next film, a credit to a gifted actor with an obvious drive to be better. The youthful looking DiCaprio is starting to fill out physically as an adult male, the age lines and added weight now an asset to his embodiment of individuals with lived life under their belt. While he seemed intermittently uncomfortable playing a tough guy in The Departed, here he is perfectly at ease as a WWII combat vet and federal agent. No American actor with the exception of Sean Penn and perhaps Benecio Del Toro does pain as well as DiCaprio, and his performance lives and breathes in his eyes and well modulated facial expressions. The film is well cast with an exceptional roster that includes an embarrassment of riches in the form of Max Von Sydow, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, Michelle Williams, John Carroll Lynch, Elias Koteas, and Jackie Earl Haley. While the story is open to criticism surrounding twists that could be deemed derivative, the film does well maintaining the logic within the frame of the plot. While decidedly a genre entry, and somewhat limited by its scope, it is also Scorcese’s best work in years, and hopefully promises more future creative offerings from one of America’s greatest film historians and decorated living directors.

The Messenger(USA) Directed by Oren Moverman  Written by Oren Moverman   Starring Ben Foster; Woody Harrelson; Samantha Morton; Jena Malone; Eammon Walker; Steve Buscemi

This six million dollar effort did very little business at the box office, but along with recent quality films like The Hurt Locker (2009); In the Valley of Elah (2008); and Stop Loss (2008),gives us a different perspective on Americans involved in the conflicts in the middle east. The always watchable Ben Foster, who has mostly been regulated to amped up character roles, here plays Army staff Sergeant Will Montgomery, a young man still recovering from Iraq combat injuries to his eye and leg. Will is considered a hero, though his perspective on his own exploits differs greatly from the official version of events. With three months of service obligation remaining, Will finds himself stateside and assigned to The Death Notification Squad and partner Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), a now sober alcoholic and unit veteran prone to dispensing a rambling litany of stories, advice, and life lessons. Tony shows Will the ropes, stressing the vital time crunch involved given the nature of modern technology. The pair goes on multiple notifications, demonstrating the horror of informing someones N.O.K. (next of kin) they have been killed. Fathers; mothers; and wives react with a mix of horror; shock; anger; sadness; and despair. Will has some obvious psychological and emotional issues related to his war experiences, as well as some unresolved feelings for former girlfriend Kelly (Jena Malone), who is now involved with another man. Despite the rules outlined to him by Tony, Will also engages with one of the family members, Olivia (Samantha Morton), who has recently lost her husband. This is a “small” story, built around a few characters, but the writing, and, especially, the acting, are superb. Hand held visuals from DP Bobby Bukowski help with the gritty, verite look. While the plot meanders a bit, Moverman refuses to rely on cliche, and the free flowing feel of The Messenger harkens back to some American classics from the 70s, including another military story, Hal Ashby’s The Last Detail. Though the specific material has been explored to some extent before (e.g Coppola’s Gardens of Stone) this is a valid examination of the complicated business of sending men out to kill and be killed. Despite the fact that a few of the visits seem a bit over-dramatized (perhaps simply in the interest of time), this a solid, well-made drama. Harrelson, who has stated he was loathe to ever play a soldier, gives one of the finest performances of his career.

The White Stripes: Under the Northern Lights  Directed by  Emmett Malloy  Starring Jack White; Meg White

Ex-marrieds, Detroit natives Jack White and Meg White (he took her name when they wed), have always been a bit of an enigma. Sure, their band image (which includes the self-generated rumor that they are brother and sister) may be contrived, but for the most part they’ve managed to maintain musical credibility, withstand the exposure connected to the intense scrutiny of fame, and keep veiled a modicum of the mystery they evidently seek. Part of the reason for the latter might well be the fact that one member of the duo barely speaks, and this documentary does nothing but reinforce that perception as Meg is close to silent during the interviews (she actually requires subtitles when she does talk). In fact, when the two do discuss Meg’s soft spoken quietness and abhorrence of the spotlight (she has had performance anxiety issues, which led to one cancelled tour), she seems on the verge of explaining further, but as if Jack can’t help himself he interrupts. This, their second documentary (the first was Under Blackpool Lights, a concert film) follows the band across Canada during their 2007 tour. We see live clips from the big concerts, as well as the day time shows where they play bowling alleys; rec centers; high schools; pool halls; and parks. Their idea was to play a show in each Province, travelling to some rural, out of way places that normally wouldn’t host a concert of any type, let alone a major rock act. Veteran music video director Emmett Malloy combines black and white photography with saturated color footage to further illuminate the band’s look, which consists solely of the colors red, white, and black. The visuals and performances are interesting and Jack (as he did in the Davis Guggenheim doc It Might Get Loud) talks about using technical barriers (rudimentary guitars; old school amps; extra picks stashed far away from the stage; no set lists, etc.) as a methodology to help keep things fresh, spontaneous, and challenging. The White Stripes back to basics, blues infused punk/garage rock sounds like a mix between Led Zeppelin and Robert Johnson with a little Bob Dylan thrown into the mix. After twelve years and seven studio albums they have proved themselves to be a band who consistently turn out solid work. Still, while Jack White speaks about keeping things innovative and off the cuff, one gets the distinct feeling that this documentary is as ultimately controlled as the band crew’s matching outfits. The idea for the tour was a cool one, the music and visuals top-notch, but we come away with only brief glimpses of who these two individuals are.

Pirate Radio (BRIT) Directed by  Richard Curtis  Written by  Richard Curtis   Starring  Phillip Seymour Hoffman; Bill Nighy; Rhys Ifans; Tom Sturridge; Nick Frost; Emma Thompson; Kenneth Brannaugh; Rhys Darby; January Jones; Talulah Riley; Tom Wisdom; Chris O’Dowd; Katherine Parkinson; Tom Brooke Jack Davenport; Ralph Brown

Pirate Radiotells the story of a British radio station housed on a ship in order to subvert the BBCs refusal to feature rock and roll on their broadcasts. Taking place in 1966, it feels very much like what it is - an attempt to take a set of historic events and contextualize them via a fictionalized narrative. Though there are appealing moments, the film never coheres in the way that successful examples of the type manage to. Rather, there is always a slight strain to the proceedings owing to an inescapable awareness on the part of the viewer of a screenwriter devising character arcs; mini denouements; and a general build in tension. These structural devices seem very much artificially imposed as opposed to organic, hampering the film with a clunkiness it simply can’t overcome. The pace too seems very much off, and learning that the original cut was trimmed by some tweny minutes (following a financially and unsuccessful British theatrical run) is not at all surprising. That is not to say that there is a complete dearth of fun to be had - the most successful aspect of the piece being its re-creation of a group of disparate individuals who have come together to achieve certain (mostly) altruistic ends. The camaraderie and general rebelliousness of the undertaking are joyfully brought forth, juxtaposed (a little clumsily) with the stodginess of the British Pols who would aim to shut them down. Longtime British screenwriter Richard Curtis, directing his second feature, is known for evincing emotions, and his experience with multiple narrative comes into play as he juggles a host of characters while continually feeding us nostalgic glimpses of period British society  through the use of a series of montages. There are too many of them, however, and (as good as it may be) too much music. Seemingly every scene is punctuated by tunes from The Who; Jimi Hendrix; The Beatles; Dusty Springfield; Bowie; The Kinks, et al, with some of the songs ineffectually (whether done with a wink or not) relating directly to the happenings on screen. Curtis employs several of his favorite actors from past films, and the cast in general - Phillip Seymour Hoffman as The Count; Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill)as Gavin Cavanaugh; and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead) play three of the djs - is solid. Bill Nighy (Love Actually; The Girl in the Cafe) as the station’s owner is his usual rambunctious self, though Emma Thompson (Love Actually) is underused; and her ex, Kenneth Brannagh (bad guy Sir Allistair Dormandy), a little too cartoon-like. While the subject matter is theoretically compelling, the storytelling is muddled, and the coming of age subplot with newcomer/university dropout (nominal lead) Carl (Tom Sturridge) never quite connects. The Titanic-like section too is unfortunate.

Whip ItDirected by Drew Barrymore Written by Shauna Cross  Starring Ellen Page; Ali Shawkat; Kristen Wiig; Marcia Gay Harden; Juliet Lewis; Drew Barrymore; Jimmy Fallon; Eve; Zoe Bell; Ari Graynor; Andrew Wilson; Eulala Scheel; Landon Pigg; Daniel Stern

Drew Barrymore’s freshman directorial effort is a semi-successful stab at a girl flick with an emphasis on the grrr. Barrymore clearly has tongue firmly planted in cheek, which contributes to the lightweight nature of the affair, but also makes the film hard not to like. Ellen Page stars as seventeen year old Texas high school student/diner waitress Bliss Calendar, a less quip ready version of Juno. Ali Shawkat of Arrested Development fame is Bliss’ best friend Pash. Playing outsider high schoolers, the two young actresses seem to be genuinely enjoying themselves. In fact, the entire cast appears to be having a pretty good time. The roller derby nom de plumes are certainly fun. Players include Kristen Wiig as single Mom Maggie Mayhem; Juliette Lewis as bad girl Iron Maven; Barrymore herself plays Smashley Simpson; Eve is Rosa Sparks; veteran stunt-woman Zoe Bell, Bloody Holly; and Ari Graynor Eva Destruction. Unfortunately, the plot line with Bliss and her uptight mom, Brooke (Marcia Gay Harden), who wants her daughter to be a beauty queen, feels half-baked and more than a little familiar. Though we encounter a few male characters, including Bliss’ father Earl (Daniel Stern) and Andrew Wilson as team coach Razor, they’re merely around for window dressing - this one is all about the women, and the film is at its best during scenes with Bliss and Pash and the roller derby sequences. Jimmy Fallon (husband of exec producer and longtime Barrymore creative partner Nancy Juvonen) adds a few laughs as announcer ‘Hot Tub’ Johnny Rocket. The story is based on the 2007 book Derby Girl, by Shauna Cross (known as Maggie Mayhem while skating for the Los Angeles Derby Dolls), who adapted her own debut novel for the screen. While this one could have benefited from a script re-write or two, Ms. Barrymore shows that she has a feel for tone and look (vaguely retro and helped in no small part by talented DP Robert Yeoman, Wes Anderson’s go to guy), and unsurprisingly gets relaxed performances from a strong cast. The eclectic soundtrack is a plus, and in a bit of typecasting indie artist Landon Pigg plays Bliss’ love interest Oliver.

Bad Lietenant: Port of call New Orleans  Directed by Werner Herzog  Written by William Finkelstein  Starring Nicolas Cage; Eva Mendes; Val Kilmer; Vondie Curtis Hall; Shawn Hatosy; Denzel Whitaker; Xzibit; Jennifer Coolidge; Fairuza Balk

Director Werner Herzog claimed not to have been aware of Abel Ferrara or his famously NC-17 rated The Bad Lietenant(1992), when making his latest, which seems virtually impossible, even taking into consideration Herzog himself, who sometimes appears to exist in his own universe. Regardless, his film is a re-make, transplanting Ferrara’s story from the streets of New York City to post Katrina Louisiana.

While low budget indie vet Ferrara used some religious iconography worthy of early Scorcese, the overall approach of his lurid tale of a corrupt drug/alcohol/gambling addicted cop going off the rails was mostly grounded in a kind of verite realism. The German Herzog, however, is less bound by the need to replicate a realistic American street feel and employs repeated surrealistic touches to illustrate various shades of his protagonist’s inebriation and overall psychosis.

Though the narrative journey is similar for the leads in each film, Harvey Keitel’s singular performance was a muscularly unforgettable turn, rivaling the best of his long and successful career. How can one forget his naked bedroom dance? Whether hitting the crack pipe, masturbating in front of a pulled over motorist, or frantically betting Mets games on a street pay phone, his character was probably as poorly behaved as any police officer depicted on screen in the history of cinema, a precursor for Denzel Washington’s magnificient miscreant, Alonzo, in Anton Fuqua’s Training Day.

With his stooped posture, comb over, bugged eyes, and pasty skin, Nicolas Cage, as Officer Terence McDonagh, the 44 magnum toting wild man, moves through the film like a Zombie in desperate search of a final resting place. His hang dog face and strangely inconsistent accent only add to the odd characterization. McDonagh, in agony from a past spinal injury (incurred during the flooding), shuffles through the streets of this tortured, beleagured city, numbing his physical pain with a concoction of drugs and alcohol that would kill the proverbial horse. His relationship with prostitute, Frankie (Eva Mendes), is treated matter-of-factly (of course, a guy like him would date a hooker, right?), and he rolls from one immoral act to another with a kind of grim determination, as if each has been predetermined and he was given little say in the matter.

Herzog’s version is the inferior of the two films, and (despite the directors protestations of ignorance) it’s impossible to view without seeing it through the prism of the first. Ferrara’s film remains woefully underecognized and underrated, perhaps because of its sheer raw, unapologetic brashness. While Ferrara is entirely New York, Herzog is an outsider to this country, and obviously New Orleans, and his film reads like someones version of a waking dream. In Cage, he has found his perfect leading man (well, leaving out Klaus Kinski) - an actor who has spent most of his career working in big budget schlock, but can still be oddly (with an emphasis on the word) captivating given the right part. The film is a kind of playground for the two, though how much synchronicity their individual solo toilings ultimately achieve is certainly open to debate. 

No doubt there are moments of black humor in Herzog’s film that equal those in Ferrara’s, though perhaps the concluding scenes devolve into something we’ve seen too many times before. Overall, both films are on the sloppy side, and ultimately amount to stages for their leading men to let it all hang out. Herzog frankly seems more interested in the iguanas that appear on screen than in developing any kind of taut narrative, and while his film is more of a procedural than the original, both criminal cases run secondary to the utter disintegration of the respective main characters. While Ferrara is taken with Catholic guilt and redemption, Herzog is disinterested in that path, and perhaps even disdainful of it.

Though the supporting cast is a good one, there is little room for anyone else to shine. Fairuza Balk does her level best in a small role, though Val Kilmer is wasted as a fellow cop.

35 Shots of Rum(FR/GE) Directed by Clair Denis  Written by Clair Denis; Jean-Pol Fargeau  Starring Alex Descas; Mati Diop; Nicole Dogue; Gregoire Colin

The brilliant Clair Denis has long been interested in Africa, and in exploring other cultures living in France or in French run colonies. Here, paying tribute to the great Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu, and specifically his film, Late Spring (which explored one of his recurring themes), she looks at a widowed, middle-aged African immigrant railway conductor Lionel (Alex Descas), who resides with his adult daughter, Josephine (Mati Diop), in a run down project located outside of a Paris. While race is clearly an inherent aspect of the film’s subtext, as well as being a subject with particular current relevance to the setting, the story concentrates on the simple everyday lives of Lionel and Josephine, a social science student at a nearby university. While nearly all of the faces we see in the film are brown-skinned, in terms of plot this fact winds up being merely an incidental one. At its root, 35 Shots of Rumis a love story about a father and daughter, and specifically, the close, inter-dependent bond they’ve managed to forge. The quiet, hard to read Lionel seems to carry with him some heavy air of regret and sadness, a countenance which may or may not be directly attributable to his wife’s death. Nearing retirement, he counts on his doting daughter to assist him in maintaining a fixed daily routine. His reliance on, and poignant devotion to, his daughter, seems to be the one thing in his life Lionel considers to be tangibly meaningful, despite the obvious devotion of neighbor/ex-girlfriend Gabrielle (Nicole Dogue), a chain smoking taxi driver with a bright disposition. Handsome young Noe (Gregoire Colin) has entered their sphere as well, and despite he and Josephine’s efforts to keep their romantic relationship separate from Lionel, their growing feelings for one another seem to augur traumatic disruption of one kind or another. As elegant and seemingly straightforward as this film might be, Ms. Denis’ efforts are never simple, and there is an opaqueness to the characters and events, as nothing is explicitly revealed, and back-story details are only reluctantly meted out. The story is about loss and love and regret, but it is minus those heavy, dramatic scenes where the characters confront one another or get to the bottom of what is bothering them. Instead, we are left with exquisite moments of subtlety, when loving gestures are mixed with disappointment and confusion, and characters experience conflicting emotions they likely couldn’t fully articulate were they to try (which most of the time they don’t). Ms. Denis elicits wonderful, natural performances from the cast, and the camerawork (from DP Agnes Godard) is marvelous. Another work of art from one of the few masters of cinema working today.

Beeswax (USA) Directed by Andrew Bujalski  Written by Andrew Bujalski  Starring Till Hatcher; Maggie Hatcher; Alex Karposky; Anne Dodge; Katy O’Connor; David Zeller; Kykle Henry; Christa Moore; Janet Pierson

Thirty two year old writer/director/editor Andrew Bujalski might well be considered the grandaddy of the mumblecore movement. His debut Funny Ha Ha (2002) set in motion the creation of a series of low tech offerings made with small crews and featuring twenty-somethings with communication issues. While Funny Ha Ha was set in Boston (Bujalski grew up in a nearby suburb) and his second, Mutual Appreciation (2005), takes place in Brooklyn, his third feature Beeswax is set in his adopted home, Austin. This western mecca of all things hipster serves as a fitting backdrop for another of Bujalski’s examinations of interpersonal relations among the young and slackerish. Per usual, Bujalski casts non-professionals, including several Austin based film professionals usually found behind the camera. The leads are real-life twin sisters Tilly (Jeannie) and Maggie (Lauren) Hatcher. Jeannie is a parapalegic owner of a funky used clothing boutique. Between jobs and boyfriends, Lauren is floating, searching for her next move. Jeannie fears that her partner in the business, Amanda (Anne Dodge), might sue her (why is never exactly explained) so she enlists ex Merrill (Alex Karposky), who is studying for his impending bar exam. Shot in 16mm by regular collaborator Matthias Grunsky, the look has progressed since Bujalski’s first film. This time out, there is also an actual plot, albeit an understated, somewhat obscure one. The tension is present, though it is consistently subverted by a concentration on small conversations illustrating the interconnectiveness of the sisters and the people in their lives as opposed to focusing on an escalating trail of events, something Bujalski could care less about and basically eschews. Though there are the usual hems and haws and verbal stumblings layered into the dialogue, what is of primary importance to this director is what we discern between these stilted lines.

Precious(2009) Directed by Lee Daniels  Written by Geoffrey Fletcher  Starring Gabourney Sidibe; Mo’Nique; Mariah Carey; Paula Patton; Lenny Kravitz;

Whether the sheer volume of occurence and/or the graphic extent of the vividly depicted ugliness on display separates Precious from any number of well-done Lifetime movies is open to debate. The acting is excellent though, and the script is mostly devoid of the painful exposition that often besets TV movies. However,  the unrelenting accumulation of melodramatic moments does place a severe strain on this story about a sixteen year old African American woman from Harlem whose life is seemingly composed of a series of tragic events and ongoing daily abuse.

Newcomer Gabby Sidibe, in her first role, was plucked from obscurity to embody the titular character Clareece ‘Precious’ Jones, and though the mostly deadened affect and monosyllabic nature of the battered, inarticulate, illiterate and physically obese teen allows her to avoid both major chunks of dialogue and, for the most part, scenes of major emotional nuance, the performance is a good one. Fifty year old second time director Lee Daniels elicits a number of other solid turns as well, most noticably the Academy Award winning one by Mo’Nique (who was in Daniels first film, Shadowboxer), as the vile, despicable Mommie Dearest, Mary.

Included among the main supporting players are some creative casting choices - namely, musician Lenny Kravitz as Nurse John, and singer Mariah Carey (sans make-up, but with some upper-lip hair) as Ms. Weiss. New York native Carey is surprisingly naturalistic, a fact that might come as a shock to those who may have been subjected to her work in Glitter. Paula Patton (also doing the no make-up thing to hide her beauty) is also reasonably effective as Ms. Blu Rain, a lesbian teacher in the alternative program Precious winds up attending. Singer Corrinne Bailey Rae even shows up as Ms. Rain’s girlfriend. Can one note a theme here?

Several questions automatically arise in the viewing, not the least of which being is this mere exploitation dressed up as cinema? Certainly, if nothing else, all involved might be accused of more than a bit of piling on. While there can be little doubt that there is something to be said for the bravery involved in basing a film on an overweight, nearly silent African American female character; and while it is probably true that in the process tribute is being paid to those who suffer at the hands of their abusers by forcing the audience  to endure some semblance of discomfort viewing human beings sadistically torturing another, it might also have been prudent to have toned down the myriad tragedies that befall our lead, if only for the sake of the limited time alotted to a mainstream, theatrically released feature film. The bludgeoning that occurs within a relatively narrow window leads an audience member feeling they’ve undergone their own personal beating.

The fantasy sequences perhaps do well evoking the inner life of a young person who naturally refuses to accept her own unspeakably horrific reality, though they also concurrently work to interrupt the thread of dramatic tension and momentum which otherwise builds through the heart of the baseline scenes. On the whole, the film might have done better leaving Precious’ dream-life on the cutting room floor, along with some of the other devices employed by Daniels to further the ends of consistently upping the melodramatic ante.

The classroom scenes smack of the same kind of stuff we have seen too many times before, a far cry from the realism demonstrated in a recent offering like the French film The Class. The students here feel very much like stock creations, and the teacher character, Ms. Rain, is perhaps a little too good to be true. There are undoubtedly some powerful moments and one rousing performance (by Mo’Nique), though Preciousis at its best when it sticks to the simple, day to day moments in the life of this unfortunate young soul. It is a memorable story, but one that may have dobe better with a less adorned, overstuffed final product.

Revanche(DAN) Directed by Gotz Spielman   Written by Gotz Spielman   Starring  Johannes Krisch; Irina Potapenko; Johannes Thanheiser; Ursula Strauss; Andreas Lust

Austrian Gotz Spielman writes and directs this compelling, multi-faceted drama. Set in urban Vienna and the outlying countryside, this modern cinematic tale focuses on Alex (Johannes Krisch), an ex-con thief who works as an assistant in a local brothel, Cindarella. One of the prostitutes is a beautiful, drug addicted Ukranian immigrant, Tamara (Irina Potapenko). $30,000 in debt to unctuous brothel boss Konecny (Hanno Proscl), she is being pressured by him to move into an apartment to service VIP customers. Alex (who also drives for the gangster/pimp) and Tamara are in love, however, and Alex wants them to escape to Ibiza, where he claims his friend is looking for a partner to invest in a new bar. Alex dreams of making some fast money to finance his and Tamara’s future, while immediately bettering their miserable existence. Though she clearly cares for Alex, Tamara is more fatalistic, surmising that their current existence is simply the hand they’ve been dealt and that everything is “normal”. As the story progresses, complications and tragedy ensue, and the film’s tone takes a decided shift, evolving into a meditation on loss, regret, and redemption. Therefore, although the usual genre plot conventions are initially firmly entrenched, what surprisingly emerges is an evolving character study, a change that helps subvert the more obvious course normally associated with thriller/suspense. Excellent support from actors Ursula Strauss; Andreas Lust; and Johnannes Thanheiser. There are similarities with the work of German Fatih Akin and Danish directors like Nicolas Winding Refn and Susanne Bier.