Review of Hidden in the Woods (2012) by Courtney K — 03 Feb 2014

To be clear, I am not reviewing the remake depicted in the picture above but the original Chilean film, which is a masterpiece of brutality. An eviscerating indictment of masculine culture and patriarchy, Hidden in the Woods Two sisters and the mentally disabled brother/son of one of them escape their abusive father and find refuge at a cabin in the woods.

But their father's drug-dealing and run-ins with the police lead to more men seeking them out. A film in which no male is to be trusted because they are all liars and rapists, Hidden in the Woods equates civilization with machismo and rape--it is built not just upon the raped bodies of women but upon all the different peoples who have been displaced and abused in order to form it.

A primal meditation on the forces that constrain women (and any other disenfranchised group, like the mentally disable), Hidden in the Woods will make you feel dirty before the credits roll, but it will also make you consider your complicity in this sad state of affairs.