AUTHOR WARNING: This film deals with many instances of sex and violence that may not be suitable for all audiences. The film itself is NOT RATED by the MPAA.

The first thing I have to say about this film is one singular word.

Fuck.

Holy fucking shit.

What did I just watch?

I had been warned about the Lars Von Trier written and directed Antichrist (2009) by many an individual, but mostly regarding the prosthetic dong worn by Willem Dafoe. Typically in the context of “remember it’s a prosthetic.” I was not warned that it was going to start with full penetration and the accidental death of a child. Charlotte Gainsbourg’s haunting and phenomenal performance as a grieving mother.

Despite the tinge towards pornography in several scenes and images, this may have been one of the best films I will never watch again. For several days, I have been trying my best to cleanse my emotional and mental palette while also thinking considerably about what the film had to say about parenthood, therapy, trauma, depression, sex, violence, and every other bit of commentary that is in this film.

It almost warrants another watch, but I don’t know if I could bring myself to do so.

This is not gore porn showing the violence to make the audience quake with fear and disgust at the bodily violence like in Hostel or the Saw series of films. Those dare you to keep your eyes open by being so over the top in their violence and Rube Goldberg mechanizations that you can’t wait to see the next one. At least, as a horror and special effects fan I am enamored by the ability of those artists to capture the violence. Lars Von Trier knew exactly what he was doing by making the ultra-violence quick and painful like ripping a band-aid. It almost catches you off guard to the fact you don’t believe what you just witnessed. Then the feeling of discomfort and horror washes over you as your body and mind processes the trauma.

You hear tale of movies and screenings where the audience has such a visceral reaction that people vomit, faint, or get up and leave in the middle from fear or disgust, and if I was at Cannes when this premiered I may have been part of the crowd that walked out.

My brother even made the comment, “Lars Von Trier should probably be in jail.” He might be right. But one thing I can’t shake about this movie is how well it expresses the horror that comes with major depression and grief.

As an individual who has been diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder I connected with both both characters as they coped with the loss of their child. I saw myself in some of the ways they tried to deal with their emotions or lack thereof. I understood how characters could react in certain ways to the trauma and experience of losing their child. The weight of having to drag those emotions through a forest of trouble and strife (literally in Dafoe’s character’s case) is something I have been dealing with since receiving my diagnosis and seeking mental health treatment.

Some may question whether or not this film actually qualifies as horror and the only thing I would say is, “watch it and tell me how your body reacts. It is true definition of horror because you will be horrified by the end of it.” There are also even a couple of jump scares to help solidify its horror credentials.

But the thing that bothers me the most is how well done this film is. The actors are beyond phenomenal. Especially when we have to deal with the after effects of both male and female genital mutilation (seen and unseen). You lose the discomfort from these moments because at the heart of it there is a story that is recognizable and true despite the shock value of the horror.

When I think of the phrase “arthouse” I typically think of films that are stunningly shot and pretentious in their metaphors and imagery, and this film is definitely arthouse. There is a lot I still don’t understand after having seen it, and I doubt I will go down the rabbit hole to decipher it. However, I cannot stop thinking about this movie and how well Lars Von Trier has made me confront my own humanity.

Both ⭐️ and ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Check it out from the Cabell County Public Library.

https://cabellcounty.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/test

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