Frontier(s)

Frontier(s)
Language: French with English Subtitles

Brief Synopsis: After the presidential election of an extremely conservative candidate, riots break out throughout France. Five young thieves make an attempt to escape to Amsterdam and start a new life there, away from the "oppression". Due to a botched escape they are forced to stop at an inn in the countryside, which just happens to be run by a Neo-Nazi family intent on making the one female thief into their new broodmare for future generations.

My Take: After reading several poor reviews for the film, I had my reservations going in. Many said that it was simply a French Texas Chainsaw Massacre, others claimed it stole from a number of movies and was a sort of Frankenstein of horror cinema. While I definitely agree that the basic plot is similar to Texas Chainsaw, and I saw where there were some similar shots/scenes, I did not feel as if it was a direct rip-off. No, Frontiers was actually something unique.

The film starts with an ultrasound image of a fetus and closes in on the beating heart. A voice-over explains that this is the child inside of one Yasmine, and that she intends on aborting the baby to prevent it from ever having to deal with the cruelty of the world. The credits start, overlaid on fake news footage of the riots in Paris.

After Yasmine's brother is shot by police, the group splits; Yasmine and a friend going to the hospital, with her boyfriend and another male going to find an inn in the country somewhere to lay low. The two men that go to the inn find it inviting, even sleeping with two of the women there, and they tell Yasmine to come to the inn as a safe place. Shortly after, they discover that the inn is run by a family of neo-Nazis. Things spiral downhill from there.

The film is graphically violent. With an NC-17 rating in the US, it is above and beyond even the Hostel or Saw films. Unlike those franchises though, I felt myself more deeply invested in the character of Yasmine. I wanted her to survive. The assistance of the youngest of the Nazi family clan, a young pregnant woman who was kidnapped as a child and held hostage since, made the film more interesting. A number of movies have done this, with one family member acting out against the rest in their new friendship (The Hills Have Eyes remake comes to mind) but I really liked Eve, the young woman. She genuinely cared for Yasmine, and while she was damaged, she wasn't rendered as a simple two-dimensional character. Eve had backstory, and she was acted superbly.

One thing I found the most interesting about Frontier(s) is that the protagonists are young French Muslims. The obviously evil family are Christian, with a large crucifix in one scene and a character making the sign of the cross in another. This is something you would never see in a Hollywood flick, to be sure!

Overall, I found the movie to be entertaining from a horror-movie standpoint, and thought-provoking in places. There were some beautifully shot sequences, while others had shaky-cam-itis. It wasn't perfect, to be sure, but it definitely holds its own with its New French Extreme contemporaries and is deserving of more praise than critics have given it.


Entertainment value: Medium-High. I was on the edge of my seat for a good deal of the movie, and I was emotionally invested in some of the characters. Then again, with the violence of this film, it is not for everyone.
Scare value: High. Dead bodies, squealing pigs guarding cages, murder galore...
Realistic?: Medium. It honestly really could happen. Pretty easily.
Violence/Gore: Extreme. More blood and guts than a slaughterhouse. Fantastic special effects.
Sex: Medium. Sex in the beginning (not too graphic but there is female nudity.)
This movie is for: Those interested in the New French Extreme, slasher movie fans.
Films like it: Martyrs, in style. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, in story.


IMDB Entry for Frontier(s)
Trailer

Dogtooth

Dogtooth/Kynodontas


Language: Greek with English subtitles.

Brief Synopsis: In a beautiful home in rural Greece, a family lives in complete seclusion. The father is the only one allowed to leave the property, which is fenced in on all sides by a massive wall. The mother and three children; older sister, boy, and younger sister, are basically held captive to his will. The entire world of the family is controlled by the father (and to some extents the mother). The children are in their late teens, and father decides that Boy needs sexual release so he brings in a co-worker, Christina, to have sex with Boy on a regular basis. Her outside influence begins to change the family dynamic and there is a downward spiral toward catastrophe.

My Take: I have never seen anything like Dogtooth. It is beautiful, funny, disturbing, and strange. Father is a convincing villain, Mother is his support but also completely submissive to him, and the children each have their own unique personalities. The mother records vocabulary tapes for words that the children might encounter explaining things outside their home. She changes the meanings so that the children do not entertain ideas of leaving. "Sea" becomes a large chair in their living room, "zombie" becomes a little yellow flower, etc.

There is so much to this film that it honestly warrants multiple viewings. It is definitely not for the squeamish, as there is enough sex and violence to make even the more hardened film-watcher cringe. The relationships between the characters are what fuel the film for more than three-fourths of it's run-time. Christina's outside influence, in particular on Elder Sister, is fascinating. She uses the girl's naivety to her advantage, exploiting her in several ways. Boy doesn't seem to understand sex, he simply does it, and Younger Sister is always looking for ways to show up her two siblings.

The presence of another "brother" that lives outside of the home presents a worry for the children, that they might be forced out of their oddly idyllic home for misbehaving or failing at one of their father's many tests. The children are also given stickers for winning at these contests, and they often invent contests of their own. It gives an interesting view into what such a confined life might be like; a world without television, internet, phone use, or even newspapers.

The film does have a bit of a slow pace, and the only major drawback I can see is that it can be extremely confusing in places. The family do things that are never explained, and there are a number of questions left unanswered. How does Father coerce Christina into having sex with Boy in the first place? Was there ever actually an Older Brother? Does Bruce die?

This is certainly a film that will lead to a lot of discussion, and I for one, loved it.


Entertainment value: Medium. It's a bit slow in places but it's definitely fascinating.
Scare value: Low. There are definitely some uncomfortable or unnerving parts but nothing is genuinely scary.
Realistic?: That's entirely up for discussion. Since so little detail is given in the film, it can be hard to determine. However, it was based on an actual case in Greece where a man kept his daughter isolated for almost thirty years, so it IS possible.
Violence/Gore: Medium-high. The violence is sparse, but when it happens it's graphic. One disembowelment, one gash to an arm, lots of hitting, and the ending bit is rather awful for anyone who has phobias regarding teeth.
Sex: Extremely High. Nudity, graphic sex, graphic cunnilingus, and at least one display of what is probably genuine sex on camera abound.
This movie is for: Anyone with a slightly warped sense of humor, fans of psychology/sociology.
Films like it: I genuinely can't think of anything like it, though there is apparently a Mexican film with a similar storyline, called Castle of Purity/El castillo de la pureza. The Virgin Suicides also expounds upon similar themes of parental control.

IMDB Entry on Dogtooth
Trailer