Simon Killer

A recent college graduate (Brady Corbet) flees to Paris after a break-up, where his involvement with a prostitute (Mati Diop) begins to reveal a potentially dark recent past.

Since watching this film last night, it has been gnawing at me, and it keeps growing in my mind as something of a masterpiece. Though, to see it in that way, one must first realize this is not a film concerned with a plot, but rather with the study of one particular character. (Just do not go in thinking you can ever understand him.)

Corbet was evil and gritty in "Funny Games" and may have stepped that up a notch here. The character is more subtle, more of an enigma, but this in many ways makes him creepier: is he a sociopath, a killer? We know he is a liar, and we are left doubting almost any claim he makes about his past. (Corbet's career is already legendary, also having worked with Gregg Araki and Lars von Trier, among others.)

While not directly inspired by Joran van der Sloot (the Aruba man best known to Americans as the likely killer of Natalee Holloway), the creators used him as a "point of reference", and it shows. For a visual look they emulated 1970s cinema, and particularly John Cassavetes' "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" (1976). I think they nailed it.

To fully "get" this movie I would need to watch it again. As I said, it grows. I like it more today than yesterday and feel like a re-exploration of the themes and characters would only add to that. Who is Simon? We may never know.

After leaving his girlfriend behind in America, recent graduated student Simon (Brady Corbet) travels to France in order to chill out and do nothing, and try to meet other people avoiding being alone the best way he can, usually enjoying female companies. First he meets a prostitute (Mati Diop), of whom they get to know a little better and he starts to help her with some problems; later on he gets the attention of another girl and her friend. With all those connections we get the final image that he's always up to make schemes, taking advantage of everyone he meets and trying to make everything favorable to himself. The problem with this Tom Ripley kind of character is that he is unsympathetic to the audience to the point where you really want to punch him instead of understanding his "pain".

The movie? Self indulgence at its best. And worst: part of the audience buys it very easily. There's no greater message, no big and interesting portrayal of how sociopaths act and it's not even a good movie. It threats to be but it never quite reaches the limited potential it has. This time director Antonio Campos imitates "Last Tango in Paris" by using minimal dialog, going from nowhere to nowhere, filled of empty and boring sequences in between with characters we can't find anything worth relating or understanding. And just like Bertolucci's classic there's the sex. The way it was portrayed and filmed, well, those were remarkable, I give you that. Really playful and exciting.

The only thing that impressed me about "Simon Killer" was Brady Corbet, once again involved in a project that proves some provoking challenges for an actor to play with and he's bold enough when the movie is not stranded in its catatonic state. Corbet is in "Mysterious Skin", "Melancholia" and the remake of "Funny Games", so with that list in mind you already know he's up to something really dark or controversial, great materials. Even though writing the story here, and probably creating the best moments for himself (oh yeah those sex scenes and that includes one truly daring moment - best scene, very original but I warn you beforehand that it can be problematic to close minded folks), he's up to no good. This doesn't generate enough interest as a cinematic experience.

And once again, Mr. Campos employed poor technique methods of cinematography and editing to convey its story the way it must be seen - the voyeuristic look of someone who spies someone at a distance and behind a person's back. It should help the movie but it's artistically dull and empty. The photography was better used in here than it was in "Afterschool", this time providing good looking shots of a Paris a little emptier than usual which reflects the main character's unbearable loneliness. He captured a good atmosphere of the place combined with the character souls - dark and cold but always trying to be colorful, close and animated, danger closer than everyone thinks, and in every corner. But he still doesn't know how to edit a movie, doesn't know how to take advantage of cuts instead of just using static images. Inaudible or whispered dialogs tortures us from time to time. And has this guy never heard of captions? To leave Simon lost without understanding what people are saying to him in this foreign country is acceptable but Mr. Campos leaves us as well in the dark and for long periods every time there's a conversation in French. There's talent in there, the problem is that he doesn't know how to use it rightly. He desperately needs to know how to write a story without creating too much artificial things, make it more human instead of transparent experiences.

Spare me from saying that it was an enigmatic or philosophical experience. Rubbish. Campos almost fooled me with "Afterschool" (a good film, not great), but he's not fooling me with this. Tedious and shallow but with two or three good things. 5/10

Within its first 5 minutes I could already sense that I was about to watch a masterful movie. For this is a most brilliant study of, and glimpse into, the life of a sociopath. At times, it is so 'fly on the wall', and so brilliantly acted, that I almost had to remind myself that this was fiction I was witnessing.

It's written and directed by Antonio Campos, who is admittedly not so well known as a screenwriter, having written only one other feature length movie back in 2008; A fact which is moreover, and to my belief, a tragedy for Campos - because he has most certainly proved himself with this movie, to be an exceptional screenwriter. Simon Killer is, in other words, extremely underrated. Nonetheless, as for its direction, production, acting, screenplay and musical score - all come together in an all too rare, & near perfect, unison.

But why is it underrated? Basically, people cannot and just won't 'like' this movie, precisely because sociopaths are nasty people who callously make the lives of everyone they contact, worse for knowing them. Accordingly, watching a movie about such a person, even one that is as interesting and accurate as Simon Killer, is not therefore a fun or enjoyable experience for any typical audience - at least in the sense that 'enjoyable' should bring a smile onto one's face. For this movie won't endear smiles at any point.

Whereas DeNero's studied psychopath, in Taxi Driver, occasionally brought a wry smile to one's face, and was popularly received as a bit of a misunderstood 'anti-hero', Brady Corbet's Simon is not only always engaging as a character study, but he's always, also, all too steely manipulating, and disgustingly self absorbed. Frankly, of the many movies I've seen, I can think of no other movie, before this, which so realistically portrays how a sociopath engages with other people who pass through his life. And, as such, I cannot recommend this movie highly enough, particularly for those of you, who are analytically minded enough, so as to appreciate its utter brilliance. Again, I'm not promising that anyone will, or could possibly 'like' this movie. Rather, I believe a minority of others will deeply appreciate its very excellence.

This is a very slowly delivered film. It is not much a of a thriller. The main character is very unlikeable. The plot does not keep you guessing. I don't comprehend how this movie has such a high rating. Please save your time if you're looking for a thriller.

Brady Corbet is Simon. Simon has just arrived in Paris, heart-broken over a recent break-up and uncertain about his future. After having sex with a prostitute he manipulates his way into a serious relationship with her. A relationship that involves drugs, blackmail, betrayal and weird sex.

The less you know the better this memorizing masterpiece will be to experience for the first time. This is one sick and brilliant portrait of a sociopath made up of beautiful moving pictures set to an epic soundtrack. Antonio Campos has nailed it.

Perfectly paced to place us in Simon's shoes, Simon Killer is horrifying eye and ear candy. It's slow and somewhat minimalistic but it's because of this that is seems all that more real. Therefore all that more frightening.