Review of The Tortured (2010) by Daisy M — 28 Aug 2014

This is nowhere near as bad as the reviews say. And their exaggerations are hilarious, outlining the gruesome "hour of torture" (which was maybe 20 minutes, probably less). Perhaps it is a testament that 20 minutes of torture felt like an hour, though. Because what is here cringe-inducing.

I'm not often a squinter to avoid torture scenes, but I was doing a lot of it here. And I certainly don't feel like I missed out on anything.

The first 40-odd minutes of The Tortured are the strongest 40 minutes. As one review said, there is a great movie here, but it's not the movie they decided to show us. Outlining the kidnapping of a child, his murder, and the impact on the parents--that stuff is gold. It's gold even with the awkward bevy of flashbacks.

And to an extent the torture stuff is a bit cathartic. It's not hard to identify with the rage felt by the parents. But then it gets too much, and then that's when I start squinting.

No, the real problem here is the movie's sudden attempt to moralize and the I-should-have-seen-it-coming twist. These shatter the movie, erasing the good and amplifying the bad. You don't leave this movie feeling good. Even fans of torture-centric movies will have trouble feeling comfortable with that ending.