Review of A Serbian Film (2010) by Devastator9 . — 14 Mar 2011

After hearing so much about this movie beforehand, and then seeing it, I have to say that the IDEAS of what is being portrayed are often much more disturbing than the imagery itself. I saw this movie as an effective tragedy, much in the same light that I viewed Irreversible. While Serbian Film does go overboard at times, the directors would never have gotten their voices heard, and the movie would not have gained the publicity or the audience that it gained due to it's shock value. To me, this was all just useful for making me sympathize for the family as they are taken to hell and back. Rather than being scary and repulsive to me, the movie is actually very sad. You've probably heard by now that the acting and production are decent. I was also impressed with the first hour of tension-building and character development (though there could have been more). I actually kind of wish I had gone into this movie blind, not knowing any plot details at all, but perhaps if that had happened I would have been too distracted by the shock value and would not have appreciated what I consider a unique and horrifying drama. Whether or not a film offends me has more to do with HOW material is portrayed, rather than what is portrayed. Sure the situation that Milo finds himself in leads to all kinds of disturbing chaos, but IMO, it is not glorified, it is made to appear ugly and terrible. I compare this to the I Spit On Your Grave remake that I just watched, where the attitude behind the rape, violence, and retard jokes seemed to be taken lightly and is somewhat sexualized. There is a lot of graphic sex in Serbian Film, but I don't think it is eroticized or taken lightly at all.

Overall, a captivating thriller.