Victim of Love

This was a big hot nothing. A guy is searching for his missing girlfriend, centred around Denmark's red light district. Or is he? Because the movie really goes nowhere, slowly. The main character just drinks and takes drugs and wallows around in a drugged paranoia. A woman he meets in a bar (Siff Andersson) befriends him and adds some light. But the conclusion, like the film, is just kind of nothing. A nice looking, often violent and stylised nothing.

This beautifully photographed film shows a challenging search for the truth about what happened to Charly's American girlfriend Amy. Primarily, the protagonist battles his hidden side buried deep in his inner universe and psyche. You experience his personal deroute and mental turbulence due to his duality that threatens to tear him apart. During the film he enters a neon-soaked nightmare and unexpected action unfolds in a mix of reality and fantasy. A film that must be seen several times before you decode all the layers involved and completely reach the director Jesper Isaksen's message and many symbolic expressions. The acting performances as well as the scenery and the soundscape/music creates a film that is both dramatic and an artistic film experience. A film where insights into the human psyche and imbalance creates surprises and a strange coherence from start to finish. Excellent - see it several times.

Phantasmagorical nightmare? That seems to be an excuse for very little to happen and for nothing to make sense. The incompetent investigation goes nowhere and this movie goes with it. The story finally picks up in the third act, but too little too late. The explanation for the mystery is all too obvious. And then it doesn't know how to end and goes out with a whimper.

Caught victim of love during the nightmares masquerade film fest in oct and thought it was great. Beautifuly shot and very well acted. Looking forward to a physical release and a second watch.

Victim of Love is definitely a slow burner to a certain degree, though picking up the pace in the last third of the movie, where the story makes sense. Slow burners are not for everyone and mood, tone and feel becomes very important, which this film luckily have a lot of. Great sound design and intriguing music along with some hefty grading using deep colors to create a haunting look. It's definitely a beautiful film in spite of the low budget.

The story is quite weak but try not to look at the film as a "whodunit type film", but more as a character study of a deeply disturbed man going roque, that will create a different perspective on the experience. In fact, I think they should change the pitch all together as it can come off a bit misleading for some viewers.

I must highlight Rudi Køhnke's performance, which is quite stunning. It's not an easy role to pull off, but Køhnke really nails the ambiguity and duality of "Charly" - a very dangerous individual for sure. His fling "Felicia" played by Siff Andersson also did a good job playing a sexy and restless kinda goth chick.

Not a perfect film, but a nice little thriller gem that with the low budget in mind is indeed very acceptable as a debut feature film. Looking forward to seeing what's in store if Isaksen is able to work on the storytelling and given a significant higher budget to work with.