Director: Guerilla Metropolitania
Year: 2023
Country: United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Exploitation
Plot:
Following the loss of their daughter, the lives of her family are thrown into disarray as the seriousness of the situation takes a toll on everyone, and when the maniac responsible for the crime finds them makes their lives an even darker and more deadly experience.
Review:
This is an incredibly difficult film to get a handle on. The main selling point here is the extremely omnipresent avant-garde approach that washes over everything present in this one. The flashing imagery featured throughout, from the shots of the girl playing in the forest to the husband wandering the abandoned city streets at night, are presented nicely with an intriguing visual flair not just relegated to the constant shifts in the narrative with who we're following or focusing on for the moment with constant shifts to various individuals along the course of the film. It also extends to the hyperstylized technicality on display, utilizing a series of impressive techniques that range from the epiliptic-inducing subliminal flashes but the washed-out haze, the sensuous camera movements, the use of unconventional angles, and the constant influx of insert shots showing paintings or other objects in the location.
That goes into the film’s later half as well when this one really decides to ramp up the violent content into a more sickening and exploitative mark. With the film already bringing this type of material forward with the sexual antics that take place here, this soon descends into a veritable orgy of depravity once the killer finds their house. The sexual antics alone would be enough to tip this into the extreme but when added alongside the strong gore and over-the-top brutality, including bits during the attacks that are played with comedically exaggerated sound effects and the number of repeated actions make for some graphic sequences here that provide quite a lot to like. This continues on with the different technical approaches with the hazy look and grimy feel of the whole presentation adding an extra sense of rawness to the whole thing that provides this one with some rather intriguing positives.
That said, beyond the artistry on display, it's really difficult to get a hold of the film and what's going on. The fact that it's almost entirely dialog-free and shot without a lot of context makes it difficult to understand what's actually happening since you're using the unusual visuals to tell the story. Most of the plot for what's going on is gathered via outside materials provided by the creator so it's slightly difficult to trust that's actually happening since the in-film universe is almost impossible to reason due to this approach and the non-linear storytelling. This avant-garde approach ends up making for a unique and intriguing approach to tell this type of story but it's also one that makes this exceptionally hard to follow along which is the main problematic aspect here. Much like the content, this is mainly a personal approach rather than a general overriding issue as some may not mind this but it is a part of the film overall and should be mentioned.
Overview: ***.5/5
An exceptionally brutal if avant-garde exploitation effort, there’s a lot to like here in several regards while most of the flaws on display are those that come from personal preference rather than anything the film does. Those who appreciate this kind of exploitation film, appreciate the filmmaking qualitie, or are curious about it will have a lot to like here while most others who are turned off by those features should heed caution.
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