Sick of Myself

What an interesting character study of an attention-seeking masochist at heart. The lead is wonderfully performed by Kristine Kujath Thorp and the directing and editing by Kristoffer Borgli is impressive. Shooting on 35mm is no easy task, but he makes it not only look seamless, but also has a visual flair that I'm looking forward to seeing again in the future. I can see why Ari Aster is producing his next project. I do think there are some minor flaws with the picture, especially with its depiction of certain disabilities, but overall, the themes work in terms of the context of this story. If you like interesting character studies, I would definitely recommend checking this one out.

Watching "Syk Pike" I felt amusement, puzzlement, aversion and compassion. The pursuit of easy glory, a sense of uniqueness and a life for the audience, but still nothing important to show or say. Sounds familiar? All the above aspects are very relatable in our age of social media. The actors did their job very well, and I had no doubts for a moment that they did not fit their characters. The whole movie was well composed, neither too long nor too short. After the movie, I remembered the saying: "stop making stupid people famous" and in my opinion that's the punch line of "Syk Pike".

All kinds of emotions guaranteed and food for thought. A good movie!

When Signe's artist boyfriend finds fame for the sculptures he makes out of furniture he's stolen from businesses, she will stop at nothing to get the attention of the crowd back on her. Munchausen's syndrome: that's what they call it when a person makes an art-form out of malingering. Or when they go so far to fake illness that they're no longer really faking.

"Sick of Myself" is a comedy so dark it's almost a horror story. Not only a horror story: a *body* horror story. I wonder what David Cronenberg or Clive Barker would think of it.

It's also a challenging viewing experience. The tone is so troubling and uncomfortable that it reminded me of another Scandinavian flick from last year, "Speak No Evil" - but that one certainly wasn't a comedy.

I often had to take breathers while watching it.

It also reminded me of "Ingrid Goes West", another dark comedy about a mentally ill young woman and the place society holds for crazy people, which it finds easy to exploit. The difference is that "Ingrid" had a stronger sense of plot and I always knew what it was trying to say. "Sick of Myself" feels more organic and unstructured, which gives you the feeling that anything can happen.

There's a girl who likes to exceed expectations, just to grab, grasp, claw, pluck, seize, the world's attention, a girl whose boundaries are so wide, it's hard to even give a guide, as she smashes, crashes, bashes her foundations.

Original for sure, as Signe, superbly performed by Kristine Kujath Thorp, captures the eye, refocuses your gaze, turns your head at an angle and distracts with dismay, all for the sake of the brainwashing world so many have come to be seduced, deceived and ensnared by, and the rewards it invariably fails to deliver, as the clock tik toks and the masses fail to take stock, lock and flock.

There is a lot of social commentary to be found in this film, which revolves around a young woman named Signe, who cannot deal with her pathological need for attention. It not only brings a character portrait of someone suffering from Münchhausen syndrome, but it also highlights topics like how we choose our beauty standards, even with "imperfect" beauty to be politically correct, or how we portray ourselves to the outside world.

A funny dynamic is her relationship with an equally attention hungry boyfriend Thomas: he asked for her help stealing furniture which he makes into his "art" and takes all the credit for himself. The more attention he receives, the more revolted she becomes and vice versa.

The movie starts off fantastically with increasingly absurd social situations and how far people are willing to go for a second in the spotlight. However, the speed decreases halfway through the movie and instead focusses more on the actual sickness Signe forced on herself. Even though her state of being gets worse and worse, the initial lighthearted yet dark humor that worked so well is kind of forgotten. The ending was felt anticlimactic and out of place for a movie that borded on the absurd and extreme during the first half.

The ideas and the script are really great, but all in all I feel the makers did not exactly know how to end the story. It would have been better - in my opinion - if it went out with a bang or at least a bit more on par with the intensity delivered in the beginning.