Dogtooth

Ummm. What?

I had no idea what this film was all about when I went to see it; I hadn't even
gone to see it, the film I went to see had been inadvertently wiped off the
cinema's digital projector, and this was put on instead.

So... This is a Greek language arthouse film, which was my first WTF moment,
but the first of many.

Essentially, this is a film about a family whose father has contrived to
control his children to the extent that they never leave the grounds of the
house and have no knowledge of the outside world. This is done to the extent
that they don't appear to have names, and that they are misinformed as to the
meaning of common words that refer to things outside their experience - "The
sea" for example, is a kind of armchair. They're also told that it's too
dangerous to leave the confines of the house.

What we see in the film is a sequence of events where this bizarre status quo
begins to fall apart, as the children begin to desire freedom and independence,
even though they lack the vocabulary to think about these concepts.

It's a very bizarre film, incredibly uncomfortable to watch. The father
uncomfortably echoes the likes of Josef Fritzel, and any sense that the film is
unrealistic has to be viewed through that comparison. It's bizarre and
unlikely, but in that light far from impossible.

The acting is good, especially on the part of the three children, who portray
an infantilised innocence very well. You can certainly analyse the film for a
long while afterward, and it gives you a lot to think about. It is,
unfortunately, one of those arthouse films where you suddenly get the end
credits and realise that's the end of the film.

Overall, a lot to see here, and I'd recommend it to anyone who generally likes
chin-stroky foreign language films. If you don't, though, I imagine it'd be a
bit of a trial.