Trauma

I like gore movies and this one was reputed to be extreme. But it is very bad. The protagonists and their decisions throughout the film are stupid. Actresses' performances are appalling and unbelievable, especially in torture scenes. There is the typical absurdly indestructible villain. I thought the movie would be more grotesque, but I even found it soft, except for a couple of scenes. Something positive is the music. I do not recommend it.

Senseles violence, rape, torture. ... no rhyme or reason. Where is the plot? A movie like A Serbian Film does a better job telling this sort of messed up story. I had to turn this film off because I got tired of hearing the same screaming over and over and over.

Some other reviewers like to talk bad about anyone who enjoys these types of movies, such as A Serbian Film. But the truth is that there is a market for this type of art, if done correctly. This movie failed at bringing together a solid story.

How do you rate and or review a movie like this? Not easy to say the least - on the other hand, if you make it through the opening of the movie ... well there is one other scene, that starts off as a party scene, but does totally get horrible once some unexpected guests arrive.

The movie does try to shock and mostly succeeds I would say. Forceful sex is one (terrible) thing, but the start of the movie adds another layer to it (no pun intended). So this is clearly exploitation - you have to know that, accept it for what it is or do not watch at all.

What can be said about it: it does look good. Disgusting things happen, but they are filmed in quite the amazing way. But while you have to decide if you are triggered and/or squeamish when it comes to movies like this one right here, it does never reach the potential of Serbian Film. That had some other levels to it - the war, the society and that dreamworld like craziness. Also the soundtrack was just great. Can't really be said here.

Still the movie will tickle the right things for you - if you know what those are. Not really up my alley - no pun intended, no matter how well it is made technically speaking and the acting isn't too shabby either. Plus nice blood and other effects.

Lucio A. Rojas' Trauma (2017) firmly positions itself within a long lineage of transgressive political horror cinema. Following in the footsteps of Pasolini's Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom and Srdjan Spasojevic's A Serbian Film, Trauma combines the aesthetic of the rape-and-revenge subgenre with an unflinching allegory for Chile's traumatic past under Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship (1973-1990). What results is a film that is both harrowing and thematically ambitious-but also uneven.

At its core, Trauma is not a film concerned with subtlety. The story is simple, almost archetypal: four women encounter unimaginable horror during a weekend retreat in rural Chile. But what sets it apart is how Rojas frames that horror-not as random acts of violence, but as the lingering legacy of state-sanctioned brutality. The film's villains are products of dictatorship: emotionally hollow, ideologically corrupted, and psychologically destroyed. Empathy has been stripped from them. They were trained to kill in the name of their country-and once murder becomes routine, reasons no longer matter.

This historical and political context is woven into the narrative through flashbacks, which are skillfully integrated. These sequences don't interrupt the flow of the story; they enrich it. They serve as haunting parallels to present-day events, suggesting that the real terror in Trauma is generational-the transmission of violence and ideology from one era to the next.

The first half of the film is devastatingly effective. It plunges the viewer into a world of nihilism and pain. The violence is graphic, the tension is suffocating, and the dark, oppressive atmosphere is amplified by an excellent score that enhances the dread without overpowering it. This portion of the film hits hard-visceral, merciless, and impossible to look away from.

However, the film loses its momentum in the second half. The revenge arc drags unnecessarily, with pacing that becomes sluggish. Once the initial shock of the first half wears off, the brutality lessens, and the film seems unsure of how to escalate or conclude its narrative effectively. There's a sense that the "gunpowder" was spent too early. While the ending does regain some of the earlier intensity, it's too brief to fully recover the impact.

Performance-wise, Daniel Antivilo delivers a chilling turn as the primary antagonist. He embodies the character of a man deeply broken by trauma, yet now capable only of cruelty. There's a cold, calculating hate in him-but also moments of disturbing vulnerability that make his evil feel all the more real. His portrayal is the clear acting highlight of the film.

The performances of the female leads are solid. They convincingly portray fear, despair, and hopelessness, especially in the film's early scenes. While the characters themselves are underwritten and largely exist within genre conventions, the actresses do their best with what they're given. That said, don't expect award-caliber performances-this is, after all, an underground horror film. Most of the supporting cast are in and out quickly, as the narrative keeps the focus mostly on the four women and their tormentors.

Trauma is a deeply unpleasant experience by design. It doesn't aim to entertain-it seeks to disturb, provoke, and reflect a national trauma through horror. And while it sometimes succeeds, its lack of character depth and the uneven pacing in the latter half keep it from reaching the heights of its influences.

Brutal, ambitious, and politically charged, Trauma is not for the faint of heart. It takes real risks in confronting Chile's violent past and should be praised for its daring. But uneven execution and a dragging second act dilute the impact. Still, it's a film that lingers-uncomfortably so-and Rojas is a director to keep an eye on.

The premise of the movie is strong, and the overall production is good, but while I'm fairly desensitized to graphic violence, the rape scene was sickening, excruciatingly long, and unnecessarily graphic. The direction of the scene doesn't waver in terms of the brutality and that the women are tragic victims; nevertheless, I felt it was over the top to a point that I had to ask why.

The introductory scene of Juan as a young man, which also is the opening scene of the film, also was intensely disturbing. I'm on the fence as to whether it was gratuitous or not. I know the Chilean revolution of the '70s was exceptionally brutal and violent, so perhaps it's necessary thematically. I don't think viewers from the United States are willing to tolerate that level of visceral, grotesque brutality on the screen, however.

The film is overall very dark and difficult to tolerate at times, in my opinion, and I sort of wish I hadn't watched it.