Die Behandlung

Dieser Thriller ist einfach EKELHAFT. Ich meine wirklich qualitativ ekelhaft. Zusätzlich ist er stark depressiv und kompromisslos. Ohne eine Spur von Humor verfolgt man die Ermittlungen eines Polizisten, der versucht, einen psychopathischen Pädophilen zu fassen. Die Geschichte hat keine Lücken, es passiert ständig etwas und man sucht gemeinsam mit dem Hauptcharakter die wahre Identität des Verbrechers. Das Thema bringt zwar nichts Neues unter der Sonne, aber die Umsetzung bringt einen einfach zu Fall. Die dunkle Atmosphäre und das schmutzige visuelle Erscheinungsbild werden durch die großartigen Leistungen aller Beteiligten sichergestellt. Plus eine erstklassige Kamera. Diese zeigt zwar nicht viel, aber der Witz liegt darin, dass man definitiv nicht mehr sehen möchte. Am Ende musste ich sogar an den Kultfilm A Serbian Film denken. Nicht wegen expliziter Gewalt, sondern wegen des perversen Inhalts des Themas hier. (80%) (24.06.2014)

I don’t know if I could imagine a more sickening and depraved crime than the one committed by this film’s paedophile psycho – actually, for the sake of my own peace of mind, I’d rather not try. The director never shows it explicitly, we only hear being spoken about or we see unsettling scenes through a crack in the wall, etc., so the imagination can work at full steam… and it’s awful. Pure darkness, and on top of that, the film is PERFECTLY shot and acted. Hands down, the best pure psycho-thriller with the most despicable villain in recent years. It affected me more than last year’s (thematically quite similar) The Prisoners, and even comparisons with cult movies like Seven are not as wide off the mark as some would expect. If you like this genre, don’t hesitate. Belgium has surprised. (21.06.2014)

It's good, but not without caveats. There are lines and motifs left unresolved and with a question mark, not by design, but because the script is either lazy or incapable of explaining them. Part of the film fulfills the detective template in a rather mechanical style, with long alternating interviews with the victims and deliberately not going as far as it should. The ambiguous supporting characters are used to delay the climax, and sometimes it's quite confusing why the director characterises them in this way (a paedophile peeping underwater in a swimming pool). And the rhythm in which all the characters appear on the stage is not quite in sync either – it takes an unnaturally long time to develop a single photograph, for example. But in terms of atmosphere, complexity of psychological and emotional relationships and build-up, there's not much to complain about. The title character is superbly acted and written, and is definitely one of the most convincingly brooding detective hounds far and wide. And since I think the story was about his fierce determination, I remain positive and will gladly add a fourth star. Although I confess I'd love to see a polished Hollywood remake by Fincher. 70 % (16.04.2022)

A very dark, sophisticated thriller on a very uncomfortable subject and with a decent asshole as the villain, though he could have been given more space. Overall, the film is rather slow, there is no frantic action, but I still wasn't bored, and especially towards the end, it gets chilling and makes you feel uncomfortable. Good job from Belgium.75% (25.06.2014)

I understand the enthusiasm about this movie after having watched it, but its brutal gloom, insincerity and impersonality combined with zero emotions towards the main investigator character made it difficult for me to even finish the movie at all. A very harsh (even in human terms disgusting) story takes place in a dark gray environment where there’s nothing positive and cannot ever be. What can I say, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about it. However, I admit that Belgium surprised me to come up with such a movie. (08.08.2016)