Review of A Serbian Film (2010) by Diana L — 06 Apr 2012

The problem with very terrifying horror films is sometimes that they're so hard to sit through once you never want to sit through again. A Serbian Film isn't like that; it's so disturbing you wish you never saw it in the first place.

This film will stick with you. It will never leave your mind. There are images that, even when out of context, are disturbing. In context, this manipulative film tricks you into liking the protagonist and his family. It's not that the characters are poorly written or unsympathetic, but you know walking in that the characters probably won't survive. Ordinarily, you'd just cut yourself off from the characters from the start, but A Serbian Film won't let you do that.

And then things get gruesome and nightmarish.

There are enough people bashing the film for how disturbing it is, but there aren't enough people for admiring just how hard it is to make a film this horrible. This film has left people physically sick and angry, and that takes a lot of skill. It's not poorly written, and there are three or so really upsetting scenes in the movie that leave such a powerful impact on the viewer.

This film is well acted, well shot, well written, well directed, but is virtually unwatchable due to how nightmarish it is. I don't know whether to praise the film as a pinnacle of horror or to bash it for being torture porn of the utmost caliber. Either way, it's a film you really don't want to watch, but probably will anyway.