A Young Man with High Potential

This is a special movie. It comes from a particular place in the human psyche. A dark place; a fragile place.

It's hard to quite know how to make sense of this movie when you're finished with it. It's not dense or moralistic, even if there is a little bit of moral philosophy in its dialogue. It's neither pretentious nor essay fodder.

It's a strange, quiet nightmare that is physically formidable but also touches, on an abstract level, things we don't want to think about. Watching this, one desperately wants to say "No, that could never be me. I'm not like that, I'm not like him, I just wouldn't do that". And maybe you're right, but you still watch, desperate to see the outcome and at the same time, dreading it.

The first act builds with an eerie feather touch, just developing its characters and its set up so you feel like you could be either of them. Then a few simple but unfortunate twists of fate create an experience that no one is ready for emotionally.

It is not easy to watch. We get a lot of macabre movies out there. As much as I like horror done well I'm not sure I'd call this a horror movie. This is something both better and worse than a horror movie in the familiar sense. On a physical and psychological level, this confronts us with raw reality in a way that's often hard to be grateful for.

It has a sense of humor when it needs it. It lets you feel pathos and terror. I was in suspense until the end credits. Every note in this movie is perfectly judged. They even do the begin-at-the-end-thing in a way that give you credit as a viewer. No "three months earlier" nonsense.

A movie that couldn't be more mature in every sense of the term but it never speaks down to its audience. It seeks to stimulate emotions more than the intellect but is still very clever.

It will take away a piece of innocence you didn't know you still had.

A Young Man With High Potential: A dark thriller which segues into horror as a comedy of errors overwhelms a computer geek. Piet (Adam Ild Rohweder) is a nerdish computer science student, reclusive, fears even the slightest social interaction, depending on webcam girl Kylie for stimulation. So he flees when another student, Klara (Paulina Galazka), suggests they become partners on an informatics project but she perseveres They actually get on well but he mistakes friendliness for attraction Rebuffed he is devastated and makes dark plans. But when Klara calls to his apartment happenstance progresses his plans. Disaster strikes for Klara though. We then descend into bloody horror and one blunder after another. Literally the darkest of comedies. We know from the beginning of the film that all is not well as Piet is confronted by a private investigator Ketura (Amanda Plummer) hired by Klara's family. Elements of Mr Robot merge with slasher tropes as writer Anna de Paoli and director Linus de Paoli give us a lean (89 minutes duration) mean feature which will have you pondering upon what you've watched long after the final credits roll. 8/10.

Pt me interested the whole time and the main characters transition throughout was chilling and very real.

6.2

I find this quite a difficult film to review as it is well produced and well acted but just leaves me cold. Yes I understand it is a study on how a sexual situation can spiral out of control and the title is a reference to what most lawyers would say in court when a rape case is presented as has been the situation recently in America with the preppy college attacks but the overtly gory and perverse nature of the film does not really make this a good film for me just more of the usual torture porn and degradation of women which is all too prevalent these days!

It also I illustrates the way a lot of young men are retreating into their homes in front of a computer and living a virtual sex lifestyle; so yes it does have a few things to say but I cannot in all honesty give it much above a 3/10 as it left me cold and was quite uncomfortable to watch at many points but I guess the intelligentsia will say this is a good thing and why the movie is so good. Not me, I do not buy into all style over content descriptions that this movie has garnered.

If you want to be thoroughly depressed and disgusted then yes by all means watch this film but do not expect to come out with any good feelings. In this day and age it is already depressing enough, I want to come out of the cinema with hope for the future and elevated at having watched something either entertaining, profound or interesting and this is really none of those!

"A Young Man With High Potential" (7)🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠 I truly only watched this film because it had no reviews on IMDb and with hundreds of movies at my disposal to choose from I hate to waste time so a competent review to me is priceless. Right away this film gets the ball rolling within the first 5 minutes the pace doesn't drag and every scene is relevant to the story. A small cast you can count on one hand but the acting is quite good, especially from the lead role who was superb. The whole film is basically shot in a modern one bedroom apartment but they have enough scenes outside and other places to keep you from getting claustrophobic. The videography was clean and the angles were refreshing the camera never seemed to be out of place and it really told the story from the best perspective. You may be reminded a bit of other films that are based along the same premise but this flick really stands out by creating a character that's complex while simultaneously being relatable or familiar of someone just like him filled with anger and empathy. A very good film from start to finish the ending was on point and really stuck the landing. I definitely recommend this film it may just surprise you.