Die Behandlung

Bare with me as this is my first review.

This is a film of the British author Mo Hayder's book of the same title. Having read the book I was aware of the uneasy subject matter. It is a difficult watch and content is extremely dark. but that said overall the film was very good. For those who haven't read the book i feel will be in suspense and hooked throughout, right the way to the climax at the end.I was very impressed with the acting especially the lead, who carried off the angst ridden detective extremely well.

The production values were high. The direction of the film was in keeping with the story being told with its solemn photography and use of lighting. It is definitely not your average film and I am not sure it would appeal to the average cinema goer, but i would highly recommend it. Even more so if you haven't read the book.

My only gripe, and it is only small, is that certain things were left out from the book, which would of enhanced this film but I guess that is down to time/budget constraints.

Lastly I would like to commend the director for taking on this film, being a fan of the Mo Hayder series of books involving this detective I can only hope someone else will take one of the other books. I thought maybe it might get picked up as a series like wire in the blood.

British crime novelist Mo Hayder's series of Jack Caffery potboilers have been gaining quite a fan following since 2000's inaugural entry Birdman. Surely even the author herself could hardly have hoped for a better introduction to cinema audiences than this Belgian adaptation of its 2001 follow-up The Treatment. Chauvinism aside, a concept largely alien to the majority of the Belgian population let me assure you, this ranks as one of the most accomplished thrillers produced worldwide this year. Underrated director Hans Herbots, most frequently employed in TV but also responsible for one of the more exciting domestic big screen debuts with the English language adaptation of Anne Provoost's popular young adult novel FALLING in 2001, has style to burn but wisely never lets it get in the way of a complex and compelling plot, expertly bowdlerized by respected screenwriter Carl Joos who also adapted Jef Geeraert's classic lowlands noir The Alzheimer Affair for Erik Van Looy's well-received THE MEMORY OF A KILLER.

The Jack Caffery character has been "Flemicized" into Nick Cafmeyer (Geert Van Rampelberg in what should be a star-making performance), hands on police detective carrying the heavy emotional burden of having been a near witness in his early teens to the kidnapping of his kid brother Bjorn. Pointing the finger towards a suspected local pedophile, the creepy Ivan Plettinckx (a devastating turn by Johan van Assche from another Geeraerts adaptation, Jan Verheyen's solid DOSSIER K.), but lack of evidence prevents his conviction. In the twenty-odd years since, Plettinckx has tormented Nick with every conceivable scenario of what might have happened to his sibling, whose body was never located. So when a home-jacking goes tragically wrong and the couple's 9-year old son is abducted, things are about to get profoundly personal for Nick who suspects a link to what happened some two decades ago.

To reveal anything more would be a crying shame as the film (at least for the source novel's non-readers) pulls one shocking surprise after another out of its magician's high hat with nary a false note credibility-wise. True, the culprit's nominal motive for his heinous deeds did strike as a little far-fetched, going as far as raising an unintended smile, but bearing in mind that this emanates from an extremely twisted mindset to begin with quickly puts the narrative back on track. While the movie pulls no punches in detailing the detective's downward spiral, much more is (strongly) suggested rather than explicitly shown, which is a good thing as it involves several unspeakable acts committed on young children, at least one of which is bound to hit you like an 18-wheeler cruising down the highway. The beyond bleak ending cynically bars all exits from this "hell on earth".

A major plus for domestic audiences is that Herbots recruited most of his cast among the reliable but faintly generic second stringers from his TV heritage where more instantly recognizable faces (such as the ubiquitous Jan Decleir or Koen De Bouw) would have harmed the film's brand of stylized semi-documentary realism. Handsome Van Rampelberg has been building an intriguing body of work since the turn of the millennium and brings a febrile intensity to the troubled anti-hero faced with an unbearable judgment call when he has to choose between upholding the law or finally learning what happened to his brother. Although he definitely gets into hot water morally, the viewer will root for him every step of the way. Burly Dominique Van Malder, following an indelible bit part in Peter Monsaert's uneven OFFLINE, equally impresses as a severely socially handicapped neighbor who may unwittingly (?) hold the key to the whole mystery. A prime suspect, scrawny swim teacher Chris Gommaer is played to twitching perfection by Michael Vergauwen whose arrest ranks among the film's most heartbreaking moments, a magnificently composed image shot overhead, indicative of the director's effortless technical brilliance.

The Treatment is a psychologically intense mystery-thriller directed by Hans Herbot. Unusually, it's a Belgian adaption of a British crime novel. Although it is from the Low Countries, it follows very much in the style of Scandinavian noir. It's a pretty uncompromisingly bleak, tense and very dark story that focuses on very troubling subject matter. A police detective is still haunted by the unsolved disappearance of his brother who was suspected of being a victim of a local paedophile. He is thrust into the middle of a new case involving another child abuser whose modus operandi is house invasions of families with a mother, father and young boy. He inflicts particularly horrible perverted actions on his victims, the detective wonders seriously if both stories are linked in some way.

It's quite rare for a film, far less a thriller, to focus on the very unpleasant subject matter of child abuse and paedophiles. The Treatment, therefore, walks a very fine line between being explicit yet stopping short of being exploitative. It's a path that it navigates very successfully though, for this is certainly a disturbing movie that shows enough to make the viewer very uncomfortable, yet knows how to do this without going too far. The mystery itself is layered and deep and draws you in further and further. Things are slowly revealed in sometimes unexpected ways. It wouldn't be right to reveal too much about the plot here, as the best way to approach this one is with as little prior knowledge as possible. It's helped considerably by some very strong acting, in some roles that could not have been easy and would have required some real skill. It is not a film that is going to be for everyone though, as despite the careful treatment it is still very grim stuff on the whole. But for those who like dark thrillers and especially ones who appreciate the northern European variety, this is a keeper.

"The Treatment" is very dark Belgian thriller, wonderfully directed, never boring, with great music and a brilliant damaged main character.

In the wrong hands, the movie could have turned out a big cliché, but narrative is so well done, that it pretty much keeps you guessing how it ends.

It's not a movie for the squeamish due to several scenes of abuse. Even the implied, off-screen brutality might not be for everyone.

I was very surprise of the high production quality. Until now, "Bullhead" was for me a Belgian film that set high standards in the dark crime genre, but "The Treatment" is a far more balanced and gritty movie.

If you like the "Prisoners", "Se7en", "True Detective" or "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", be sure not to miss this!

A difficult film to sit through due to the subject matter it handles pedophilia, incest, assault, and murder, the Treatment is as hard-hitting as it can get. It's best visualized as four episodes with intertwining characters and storylines - a) Inspector Cafmeyer's personal tragedy where his brother supposedly gets abducted by a next-door-pedophile, the fact that he's not been found, and how it haunts him 25 years later. b) The horrific Simons family incident where someone tortures them for days, abducts the couple's young boy and leaves him bitten & murdered in a park. c) A repeat of the earlier mentioned event for another family in the neighborhood. d) The big reveal & the finale.

Geert Van Rampelberg is stupendous as the emotionally broken but smart investigator Cafmeyer, who has to hold himself together as cases echoing his brother's disappearance start to pile up. The unraveling of clues is where The Treatment solidly delivers, some having connections to past events and some requiring a forensic elucidation. While I expected this film to go the typical serial-killer route, it both held my attention and made me fleetingly look away as the case(s) started delving deeper into an underground pedophile ring.

The Treatment is the kind of film where bodily fluids (of its helpless victims) can be sensed from afar. The graphic nature of the film lies rooted in its emotional weights, not the blood-letting. The tension is sustained well, and in fact, lingers in your mind long after the credits start to roll.