User reviews

Ohhhh my glorious king Dominik Santorski I gotta say, I'm head over heels for Dominik. I mean, who wouldn't fall for a guy who can rock a hoodie and headphones like he's in a fashion show? He's got that brooding, mysterious vibe down to a science, and his virtual world adventures? It's like he's living in the ultimate video game. Plus, anyone who can emote so intensely through a screen has my heart. He's the perfect mix of emo and genius-like a moody Einstein. And let's not forget his artistic soul, which is just the cherry on top. He's like a digital knight, battling trolls and collecting emotional baggage. Seriously, his resilience and ability to make existential angst look good are just impressive. Who doesn't love a guy who can turn brooding into an art form?

This is actually a very emo movie but also very impactful on as well. It shows how sometimes even if some people might look, act alright and fine and dandy but deep inside there can be darkness and pain. This movie portrays what a lot of teens and even adults go through when reality becomes way to difficult to bear. They enter a virtual world, away from reality. I like movies of this sort, in fact this one sort of reminded me of a film called "The Chumscrubber" which is another movie about how reality and virtual reality intertwine in a teens mind. While facing inner personal thoughts and inner demons. This movie is actually executed pretty well when it comes to showing the pain of a emo kid, although it can get annoying sometimes. Slight aspects or parts of it I think some people can maybe relate with. The performances from the cast is raw and real most of the time which really does add to a movie like this. The plot is about a overly sensitive and emotional teenage boy that gets humiliated at school. And despite coming from a very proper lifestyle and rich and successful parents. He feels neglected and goes through emotional instability because he feels that no one understands him. And thus dives into a virtual chat room called the Suicide Room. Which is a group where other emotionally damaged, recluse and secluded people come together in order to make a suicide pact. In another words, it's probably the worst group of people to get involved with. But he feels that this group is the only people that understands him and thus goes very far into the virtual world with them. This is a thoroughly emotionally driven movie, that is slow at times but haunting and compelling at the same time. And the ending leaves a impact and will probably stick with the audiences.

7.6/10

Dominik has it all: a wealthy family, good looks, intelligence and a bright and promising future ahead of him. But why does he feel like he's losing his grip on all of it? Popularity seems to elude him, and although a few girls still want to dance with him in parties, he's slowly succumbing to shyness, struggling against minor aggressions from other students, against the seemingly harmless mockery of his peers.

Adolescence is always difficult, hormonal changes and new feelings can destabilize anyone. Dominik finds himself exscinded, adrift between two possibilities: What does it mean to be manly? And what does it entail to act effeminately? Gender roles are not unwavering, as they change and evolve through times, through the actions of the people. Gendered behaviors are unnatural: the way in which we learn the performance of gender roles (what we commonly associate with femininity and masculinity) is an act of sorts, a performance, one that is imposed upon us by normative heterosexuality. We are like actors in a stage, trying to persuade others that we are either men or women: we do not follow our natural tendencies but rather the dictates of society.

Everything in Dominik's life pertains to the norm; even his parents are ruled by it: they are like slaves following the orders of the marketing industry, in the case of the mother, and the government, in the case of the father. Yes, they have made a fortune, but in order to do so they have obeyed norms for so long that they can no longer feel free. It's this slavery that forces them to assume the heterosexual normativity to the extreme and have sex with anonymous lovers. They need a member of the opposite sex to enforce their roles as productive and successful heterosexual individuals.

And that's what's expected of their son. And that's why he cannot reconcile his existential doubts with the demands of adulthood. In her book about Performativity, theorist Judith Butler asks herself to what extent our acts are determined for us, rather by our place within language and convention. For Butler, identity is an illusion retroactively created by our performances. She defines identity as "a compelling illusion, an object of belief" (not unlike Dominik's interpretation of Hamlet). Perhaps in past decades this was harder to understand, but now let's think about the internet and online communities in which we can recreate and reinvent ourselves. That's what Dominik finds in the "Suicide Room", a virtual environment, a rendezvous point for a group of strangers that rely on 'avatars' and online interaction.

Although slightly insecure, Dominik is first presented as a 'normal' boy. Nevertheless, everything changes after a party in which two girls kiss each other and then challenge him to do the same with his friend Aleksander. The girls are not lesbians but they are subverting the foundations of heterosexual normativity. In the same way, the two boys kiss each other and personify for a few seconds the abject, id est, the homosexual condition. In order to have a heterosexual normativity there must be something that opposes to it.

At the beginning, it would seem like this innocent kiss doesn't disturb anyone. Dominik's friends upload the kiss on YouTube but there are no hard reactions, no negative consequences. It's like a simple, childish joke. That is, until Dominik is wrestling with Aleksander during their judo lessons. Aleksander holds him down, and rubs his body against Dominik, this becomes so arousing for the teenager that he can't help but to ejaculate right there. Aleksander starts laughing about it and Dominik leaves the room instantly, completely humiliated and embarrassed.

Aleksander, maliciously, tells everyone about the "semen incident" on Facebook, and the entire school starts laughing at Dominik. The boy is now under a lot of pressure and he cannot cope with it. That's when he finds a safe haven in the "Suicide Room". Let's remember that gender is completely a social construction, a fiction, and therefore open to change and contestation. In a way, this suicidal group is defying every convention; not only are they attempting to end their lives, but they are also computer generated images that have created an entire world online. This idea of identity as free-floating, as not attached to an 'essence', but instead to a performance, is part of the queer theory. And it's also fundamental in order to comprehend Jan Komasa's remarkable film. In the "Suicide Room" there is a Queen and warriors, and soon Dominik becomes a member of this club. Everyone here has, indeed, a floating, virtual identity. And gender rules don't really apply, as the Queen and Dominik have an intense friendship that can never turn into physical love.

Just as it happened in the opening frames of the film, there are two parallel sequences: the ones in the real world, and the ones in this non-existent place created thanks to the internet. When Dominik tells his parents that he might be gay, they adamantly refuse to give credit to such possibility. As it has been established, they're so deeply embroiled in the heterosexual normativity that no other alternative can be valid for them. By illustrating the artificial, conventional, and historical nature of gender construction, Butler critiques the assumptions of normative heterosexuality: those punitive rules (social, familial, and legal) that force us to conform to hegemonic, heterosexual standards for identity.

Unable to ascribe to predetermined gender roles, Dominik is now a tortured and fragile soul, vulnerable to the influence of this mysterious girl that acts like the Queen of the Suicide Room. But she along with her subjects are no more than phantasmatic projections devoid of any 'realness' or any sexual attributes for that matter. None of this matters to Dominik, who becomes more and more invested in this virtual world, neglecting reality and becoming completely isolated. A true masterpiece from Poland.

I found this movie to be absolutely incredible, the acting was moving and so believable. Jakub Gierszal (Dominik Santorski) portrays what every teenager goes through at one point or another only he experiences what happens when no one asks the right questions or in this instance doesn't ask anything at all. It makes me sad to think that this is a reality for some and that the world around them have no idea what's happening. I urge everyone to see this movie and take note of the people around you, more often than not it's the ones that don't ask for help who need it the most. In my humble option I thought this movie brilliant and deserves more exposure than it got.

Poor little beleaguered Dominik (Jakub Gierszał) has it just plain awful - private schools, a personal driver, fancy gadgets and money to burn. Fortunately for him (taking a wild guess on this one) before the opening credits rolled he got hold of "The Sorrows of Young Werther" by Johann Goethe and read it over a dozen times. Thanks to this he is a alienated senior year kid with a messed up sexual orientation. Having parents solely interest in their careers and with skin deep understanding of their son does no favours. After uncontrollably ejaculating during a stranglehold at a karate class he quickly becomes the laughing stock at school. In response to this turn of events he swiftly becomes escapistly involved in an online Sims-wannabee group, which call themselves "The Suicide Room". There he literally starts living his second life, dropping out of school and locking himself in his room hopelessly entangling himself with the cyberworld and its leader, Sylwia (Roma Gąsiorowska-Żurawska).

After much fanfare after a Berlinale premiere and an extremely successful Poland premiere with of people swarming in to the must-see movie of the season, I was anxious to get hold of this new fad. It took me a while and since the hype has simmered down I was able to quietly swallow the movie without external influence.

Thankfully it rather good. But it is a far cry from falling over head over heels in ecstatic admiration. Nonetheless the whole premise of the story structures it around two overlapping but separate worlds. The real one, initially focused mostly on Dominik, but then taken over by his parents played by Agata Kulesza and Krzysztof Pieczyński. Placed on the shoulders of a strong brunt story about dissociation of parents from their children, the emotional deficiencies that it causes and the rage that ensues from such a situation, it strikes a strong cord in most of the right places. It does jar from time to time with oversimplifications, clichés or unnecessary and unfocused jabs at politics, but the threesome creating the family are tremendous. Also the scenes trying to replicate real teen life and their trials / tribulations rings extremely believable and natural (I was like watching myself being stupid back in the days).

And the cyber one, which is stylised like "Second Life" meets "World of Warcraft" with a side-helping of "Doom", except that imagination - and not crude keyboards or a mouse - is the only limit as to what your avatars can do. Given their is no explanation or reason, as to why this is possible, you just have to accept it at face value as a story gimmick. The world itself is enticing and well-conceived creating the necessary atmosphere to invite us into this alternative life. However these sequences fail to bring in the necessary completion to the story. Mainly because of two flaws. The first is Roma Gąsiorowska, an actress achingly reeking with irritating mannerisms coupled with a squeaky voice and some poorly delivered lines. The second is the poetic drivel and existential nonsense served out as wisdom by participants of "The Suicide Room". At its best it is self-centred unfocused romantic pulp. At its worst its just plain terrible scriptwriting. Adding one and two together makes it entirely incomprehensible why a smart young boy with an artistic soul would ever sign up to such a group of wannabees. The only answer that comes to mind is that despite all her flaws Roma Gąsiorowska is one pretty lady.

The ending is pretty great and Jakub Gierszał really pulls his weight in this movie (at least as long as he doesn't have Roma Gąsiorowska as his counterpoint).

Cinematography I must say is top-notch, but than again I may be biased, as I unknowingly discovered this was filmed by a former acquaintance of mine: Radek Ładczuk. Good to see a movie made in Poland that isn't drenched out of colour to a lifeless bleak hue inhabiting 95% of Polish art-flicks.

This is a nice piece of polish cinema with a modern and universal message and theme. A sign of the time. The time of emptiness, loneliness , fear , depression, virtual escapes. Being rich, intelligent and beautiful are just not enough anymore. What can fulfill the void of the soul? Who knows? The movie is not just about a teenager with sexual identity problems being victim of gossip. The hole looks deeper. I think this movie it's a cold one. With cold characters. We cannot fell any sympathy for any of them. They seem strangers and distant people. Personally, I can only despise them. There's nothing about them that can take off tears or laughs from me. This is the impression that I have got after all. Maybe the movie was meant to cause these feelings on its viewers. Maybe to denounce how heartless and careless we can be nowadays. Or maybe we are just watching such a spoiled kid with such spoiled parents that simply don't deserve any pity and if any of them commits suicide or fall from a stair and break the neck... Who would care?

This movie is nothing but life changing to me. I have severe depression and I've had it for about a year and a half. Over time it got worse and worse. A couple months ago I started wanting nothing more than to die. I wanted to feel so much pain on the outside, so I didn't have to concentrate on the pain that goes on inside me in which my mind brings me. I didn't want to live in a world where there's so much evil, hatred, and betrayal, and who does? If you watch the news you see there's more and more murders, house fires, kidnappings, raping, bombings, terrorist attacks, etc. To our society, it's not uncommon anymore to hear about these things. Now we don't even feel devastated or torn apart every time we have to hear about these things occurring. But if it's happening to you, it's a whole different story. So many people only care about themselves and their family that they don't take the time or effort in helping others in need. If anyone sees this comment I want to tell you please think about how you treat and act towards others. This world needs a big change. Before I die I want to say that I've helped at least one person get out of depression. That's why this movie changed my life. I wanted to die because I didn't want to have to witness all of this evil and betrayal. Of course there were many other reasons why I wanted to end my life but that's not important right now. The point is this movie made me, and hopefully many others, realize that I don't really want to kill myself. There's so much more to life than you think. The way this movie changed me is incredible. I recommend that anyone with depression or thoughts of suicide watch this movie.

There's a lot going for this film. It's well directed and has a certain style. The animation sequences are quite beautiful, and the film's music soundtrack is very good.

However the film's bleakness and the lack of sympathy I felt towards the main characters ruined the overall appreciation of the film.

The four leads, Dominik, his parents, Beata and Andrzej, and Sylwia, are all horrible, selfish, people.

Dominik is a spoilt brat, an only child, spoon fed in life he childishly throws tantrums when he doesn't get his own way.

He is soon led into a world of madness by Sylwia, an immature and mentally unstable girl, who thinks the world revolves around her and her suicidal thoughts.

Beata and Andrzej are too wrapped up in their work to be good and attentive parents, and when they're not cheating on each other and finally realise Dominik need help, their rudeness to the psychiatrists who offer their services is appalling.

When you have a film which serves up such unappealing characters there is no emotional investment, I really couldn't care if they all lived or died.

Having said that, I will watch out for director Jan Komasa's next film, he shows great promise.

I've heard my friends talk about this movie a lot and I've always meant to see it.

Recently, I stumbled upon it online with excellent subtitles, so of course I had to watch it. And I'm glad I did!

I can relate with a lot of situations in the film and the acting was all so well done. It is quite a sad movie, so beware. (I was almost in tears.) I was drawn into it from the beginning and couldn't take my eyes off of the screen. It's definitely one I'm going to watch over and over.

Highly recommended!

Phenomenal acting with a relevant, riveting and intense plot. Anyone feeling like an outsider or bullied by the ridicule of social networks, regardless of age, could relate to the turmoil and desperation experienced by Dominik. My interpretation of the avatar animation is Dominik's desire and fulfillment to love the part of his emerging self that is represented by Sylvia...Dominik's and Sylvia's animated faces and and human faces seemed almost identical at times. The ending was shattering and unexpected, powerful and unforgettable. A brilliant film and the acting of Jakub Gierszal cannot be applauded enough!

No pun intended with the summary line there. But this isn't the first attempt to bring the virtual world or the trap it might become to you to the big screen. And all those movies seem to have great intentions and the overall idea here is good too. And it does feel as real as it can get, with the web surrounding our main character. Even the connection (or lack thereof) the boy has with his parents is depicted very nicely in this movie.

The visuals concerning the virtual reality aren't the best, but that shouldn't put you off. The main actor was really good and if you can live with the apparent flaws you will like the dark nature of the movie and cherish it for it.

To be honest, I hesitated to go to the cinema because I was afraid that it's just another overrated (by media only) Polish film. However, I am very glad to announce that this film is REALLY worth being seen! Apart from an amazing performance of Jakub Gierszał and Agata Kulesza, you can admire excellent special effects together with well-written dialogs. Even though the idea of animation which is presented in the film may put somebody off, it should be pointed out that it actually fits perfectly well into the picture. 'Sala samobójców' shows the rules which are brought to life in modern world and leaves it to the audience to decide whether we should apply them in our own lives. I would recommend this film to everybody who is mature enough to appreciate its beauty and depth. For me, it was a real treat. Enjoy!

A story very similar to the one told in a new movie (The Son, 2022): parents who are not present for their son. Also, in this case, a teenager who is bullied at school and does not want to return to real life.

He takes refuge in a virtual world on the Internet that, in my opinion, is extremely well done for a 2006 film. I think I would have liked to see more scenarios from the supposed video game than from Dominike's real life.

And the comparison I make with "The Son" seems important to me to point out that there are ways to better portray depression in male adolescents, there always have been, this is a good representation! And unlike this new film that I mention, in "Suicide Room" there is no ending where an element (gun) shown at the beginning of the film is used. It has an expected ending, but at first you may think that they are giving you all the clues about how that ending is going to happen, and it turns out that they are not.

What I liked least was the color scheme of the story in real life (not the video game, the video game was great). It is as if the film had a filter over it, the colors look dark and opaque. I also didn't like that they showed Dominike's last moments. I think it would have been better if they ended with her mother's speech.

When I heard about what this movie will be about I was already sure, that I'll watch it no matter what. But in fact, I was afraid that Polish directors will release another crappy movie with no meaning. But I was nicely surprised. Storyline is very interesting, actors are great, characters are deep and realistic. It was certainly worth to see this, it changed my point of view on some things. Also it was something new to combine classical acting with computer simulations. If I could loose memories from the day I watched this movie just to watch it again, I'd do it, because it's a really worthy piece of art. Best movie I've seen in months.

This is a story that depicts loneliness and darkness and directed by Jan Komasa. Domink is a high school student who is only an son and was brought up in a wealthy family. Although he hides his wonder as to whether he might be a gay, he is an ordinary high school student, keeping in touch with friends on Facebook, laughing at a shocking video with them, and doing well with his life until his senior prom before graduation. His parents, always busy with their jobs, have created a barrier called isolation to keep him away. Dominik still manages himself in everyday life, but jokingly kissing Aleksander at a party unfolds Dominik's secret sense of homosexuality. Meanwhile, the kiss with the two boys is uploaded and hits a public relations on the net instantly. Whilst Domink enjoys the tension from the video and the comments at first, he becomes the laughingstock and his affection towards Aleksander ends up as a sense of betrayal. This causes him to become an outcast. Then, Dominik is invited into the chat room of virtual world called "Suicide Room" by a girl who can't find any hope in the real world. Whilst talking with the girl in the virtual world, he starts withdrawing from the real world, being attracted by her negative and mysterious allurement.

The story is well-conceived, expressing the changes of Dominik's psychological state: ordinary adolescence, close-mindedness, withdrawal, mental confusion, symptom of depression, etc. There is a distance in the worlds between the world where his parents and the psychologist live, and the world where Dominik lives. There is also his psychological condition where the diremption is making everything in his everyday life shut away from the real world, and his mental state that makes him attempt suicide. This makes the audience feel as if it is letting them walk through an endless, dark tunnel that has no exit. The net may make you feel platonic and eternity in a sense. Once you go out, you will see many people out there. Even though people may feel like they are connecting with each other through SNS, they may also feel isolated as if they are a grain of sand in the desert. This film well-depicted such distortion created in the net within the modern society. The ending is negative, leaving every question unanswered to the audience. The theme of the story, a person falls into a virtual world since he/she doesn't fit in anywhere, which may be a possible story. However, this will ring the heavy bell of your heart.

I admit having read about the movie prior to watching it, and which brings me to say that the Wikipedia article of it is inaccurate. A low budget movie, but undeniably a good one; I feel that it hasn't been a story dramatic enough, while paradoxically I think that, much have been subtly underlie-d, which may either make it a movie about a guy who who couldn't take it, or about a guy, who is like many of us, or at least shares intrinsic aspects of ourselves, and who couldn't take it despite that he wanted to. A very fine actor, I was nearly convinced that I was watching something/one real, something/one that is actually happening/actually lived and died - it/he had me engrossed. Uhm. 4.8/5

I made an account for this movie and that should say it all. Its feel, acting, and content all hit you were it hurts. I have yet to watch a movie in America that can hold a candle stick to foreign productions as an whole. Suicide Room will prove this to anyone that can count to ten unassisted. From the emotional trails, to the family issues we all face. Love is never easy to speak about, let alone act it out so arbitrarily. I could kick myself for not have enjoyed this sooner. Whatever you do, do not miss out on this drama. I can tell you it's good for the soul. Observe and understand the raw prowess of SUICIDE ROOM. You should be watching it already :) seriously stop reading and go watch it!