Marie Wankelmut, once successful comic artist, lives among the prostitutes in Amsterdam's Red Light District. Nowadays drunken and bold, she gets into one conflict after another. A gruesome...
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Anton, a famous pianist, is missing. The policeman who takes over the case gradually learns about the artist's troubled destiny, his bizarre relationships and the decisions that triggered a... See full summary »
Marian, a middle aged nurse, devotes herself to her patients like a saint. Sometimes she even takes on the role of a redeemer, by helping the gravely ill to the soothing order of ultimate ... See full summary »
Director:
Urszula Antoniak
Stars:
Bien de Moor,
Lars Eidinger,
Annemarie Prins
A young Polish-born, Berlin-based lawyer working on refugee cases is unexpectedly reunited with his father, who is his only tie left with his homeland.
Director:
Urszula Antoniak
Stars:
Andrzej Chyra,
Jakub Gierszal,
Christian Löber
Two teenage boys in Scotland in 1994, best friends with no control over their lives, risk everything to attend an illegal rave, hoping for the best night of their boring lives.
Director:
Brian Welsh
Stars:
Cristian Ortega,
Lorn Macdonald,
Laura Fraser
Unable to have kids of their own, Cecilia and Diego get a call from the adoption agency they registered to some time ago. The sudden arrival of Joel, a nine-year-old with a troubled history, will change the course of their lives.
Director:
Carlos Sorin
Stars:
Victoria Almeida,
Diego Gentile,
Joel Noguera
15 year old Eryk lives with his mother, grandmother and great-grandmother in a small village in Poland. He has a too intimate relation with his manipulative and dominant mother. Eryk is in ... See full summary »
Hawaii is a story on the struggle of inheriting $3 million in communist-era Romania when owning $1 could mean losing your freedom and touches on the theme of how money could buy if not happiness, at least the freedom to choose unhappiness.
A gripping story of a three-month-long journey that renowned Polish reporter Ryszard Kapuscinski took across Angola, ravaged by a war in which the front lines shifted like a kaleidoscope, from one day to the next.
Directors:
Raúl de la Fuente,
Damian Nenow
Stars:
Miroslaw Haniszewski,
Vergil J. Smith,
Tomasz Zietek
Three middle-aged siblings - two sisters and a brother - with wildly different personalities struggle to make it through the Easter holidays as the brother suffers one of his psychotic episodes.
Director:
Mijke de Jong
Stars:
Marcel Musters,
Monic Hendrickx,
Elsie de Brauw
Three men from a provincial town are in urgent need of money and decide to buy a lottery ticket. They win the lottery, but soon after their ticket gets stolen.
Director:
Paul Negoescu
Stars:
Dorian Boguta,
Dragos Bucur,
Alexandru Papadopol
Marie Wankelmut, once successful comic artist, lives among the prostitutes in Amsterdam's Red Light District. Nowadays drunken and bold, she gets into one conflict after another. A gruesome sobering event at her neighbors, forces her to take action.
The film is a blunt character study of a self-destructive life. It is told in a leveled, straightforward way, allowing for the actors and the heart of the story to lay bare, exposed to criticism, and darker emotional investment. "Bloody Marie" is the equivalent of watching a tragedy unfold from a time before impact, during the event, and right on until the debris is swept away. All while bathed in a neon glow.
The story is filled with conflict. Told with so much slow-paced focus on emotions that are uncomfortable to see expressed by characters, while overlaying a sentiment of compassion and relatability. You either recognize and connect with protagonist or you don't. I recognized myself in Marie's persona from the first spastic movements on an empty dancefloor while the daylight leaked in the bar.
The acting is superb. The characters are seedy, tragic and defiant. It is hard to find something likable about these people. You fill mostly sad for the kind of characters they offer. The beauty in that is that Hillege and Driel aren't asking you to, or even apologizing if you don't. It is what it is. This is a dark story of a life spiraling hard and terrifyingly so.
"Bloody Marie" is more thriller movie in its second half. The horror lies in watching a series of horrific choices and bad events push the main character into the next horrific situation. It gets tense and dark. The cinematography is excellent, and the music score and atmosphere really amplify the story.
This isn't a film for anyone looking for extreme expressions of violence or blood. It stays more dramatic and psychological. The thriller elements and action movie with a similar pace and energy that the film starts with. The suspense builds some but nothing comparable to standard horror or traditional thrills. It is a well crafted art film that is dark and human.
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The film is a blunt character study of a self-destructive life. It is told in a leveled, straightforward way, allowing for the actors and the heart of the story to lay bare, exposed to criticism, and darker emotional investment. "Bloody Marie" is the equivalent of watching a tragedy unfold from a time before impact, during the event, and right on until the debris is swept away. All while bathed in a neon glow.
The story is filled with conflict. Told with so much slow-paced focus on emotions that are uncomfortable to see expressed by characters, while overlaying a sentiment of compassion and relatability. You either recognize and connect with protagonist or you don't. I recognized myself in Marie's persona from the first spastic movements on an empty dancefloor while the daylight leaked in the bar.
The acting is superb. The characters are seedy, tragic and defiant. It is hard to find something likable about these people. You fill mostly sad for the kind of characters they offer. The beauty in that is that Hillege and Driel aren't asking you to, or even apologizing if you don't. It is what it is. This is a dark story of a life spiraling hard and terrifyingly so.
"Bloody Marie" is more thriller movie in its second half. The horror lies in watching a series of horrific choices and bad events push the main character into the next horrific situation. It gets tense and dark. The cinematography is excellent, and the music score and atmosphere really amplify the story.
This isn't a film for anyone looking for extreme expressions of violence or blood. It stays more dramatic and psychological. The thriller elements and action movie with a similar pace and energy that the film starts with. The suspense builds some but nothing comparable to standard horror or traditional thrills. It is a well crafted art film that is dark and human.