Review of Downloading Nancy (2008) by Ola S — 08 May 2009

I takes some time to decide whether this is a failure or not. I've come to the conclusion that it's not.

Nancy lives in a dead marriage. She has been sexually abused as a child. She's got absolutely no contact with her husband, she cuts herself and finally forms this pact with a stranger from the net. It's a contract. He will kill her in a humilitating way, because the only way for her to feel is through pain.

Sounds like a dreadful and also quite naive script, if you hadn't got the feeling that this is for real. The discussion about so called verfremdung will hopefuly never end. Are you supposed to act, like Brecht wanted, or feel instead and get paralyzed at the same time. Swedish director Johan Renck has chosen the second alternative. He walks along a thin line and is very close to the ridiculous. But Renck brings it all home, much due to superb acting here.