Plot
A doctor seeks revenge by kidnapping, torturing and killing the man who raped and murdered his young daughter.

Release Year: 2010

Rating: 6.5/10 (2,711 voted)

Director: Daniel Grou

Stars: Claude Legault, Rémy Girard, Martin Dubreuil

Storyline
Bruno Hamel is a thirty eight year old surgeon. He lives in Drummondville with his wife Sylvie, and their eight year-old daughter Jasmine. Like many happy people, he is leading an uneventful life until a beautiful fall afternoon, when his daughter is raped and murdered. From then on, the world of the Hamel family collapses. When the murderer is arrested, a terrible project germinates in Bruno's darkened mind. He plans to capture the "monster" and make him pay for his crime. The day the murderer appears in Court, Hamel, who had prepared his plan in great detail, kidnaps the monster and later sends the police a brief message stating that the rapist and murderer of his daughter was going to be tortured for 7 days and then executed. Once this task accomplished, he will then give himself up.

Writers: Patrick Senécal, Patrick Senécal

Cast:
Claude Legault - Bruno Hamel
Rémy Girard - Hervé Mercure
Martin Dubreuil - Anthony Lemaire
Fanny Mallette - Sylvie Hamel
Rose-Marie Coallier - Jasmine Hamel
Alexandre Goyette - Boisevert
Dominique Quesnel - Maryse Pleau
Pascale Delhaes - Diane Masson
Maxime Bessette - Jeune rocker
Pascal Contamine - Morin
Daniel Desputeau - Gilles Médecin
Valérie Gervais-Lillo - Caissière essence
Isabelle Page - Lectrice de nouvelles (as Isabelle Pagé)
Maxime Allard - Journaliste Fafard
Garry Gagnon - Caméraman Fafard

Taglines: Justice is Blind. So is Vengeance.

Release Date: 12 November 2010

Filming Locations: Québec, Canada

Box Office Details

Budget: $CAD3,400,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $CAD176,969 (Canada) (7 February 2010)

Runtime: 105 min  | Canada: 111 min (Québec)

Trivia:
There is no music in the entire movie, not even during the end credits.

Goofs:
Anachronisms: Speaking as a physician, the blow to the perpetrator's right femur, just above his knee joint was sufficient to fracture the femur. Typically a crush injury or other damaging injury to a person's lower extremities causes a fatal shock. In war these injuries are quickly treated with a blood substitute until the person can be moved into a better care facility. In earlier war like WWII, many lives were salvaged that had been lost before because of shock and death. There, they were saved with the venous infusion of plasma. In later conflicts another infusion might be chosen on a battlefield such as Dextran which is the preferred blood volume expander. For a person to survive (as shown in the film) without this regimen is very unlikely. He later does start intravenous infusion, after using the chain to traumatize the victim, yet the victim lived. All are inconsistent with additional sustained life.

Very disturbing

Rating: 8/10

This movie is very disturbing, and I am used to violence in movies. In fact, it is not the violence that disturbed me, but rather the very, very tense atmosphere charged with various emotions. It feels so heavy, I am still uneasy, an hour and a half after watching it. Those who have watched Saw or Hostel will find the violence bearable, but this is not a gore movie like these two franchises; it is a psychological film. I believe that knowing these actors very well (not personally) made me biased towards this movie. I am convinced that if the movie would have featured different actors, or perhaps if it wasn't Québécois, I wouldn't be as troubled as I am right now. It is a weird feeling that I cannot really explain.

The movie itself is very well done, technically and artistically. Daniel Grou's direction is near perfect for that kind of movie, expect maybe a few shots which, in my opinion, were unnecessary. The movie has no soundtrack at all; long stills of the character(s) in silence help getting in the mood, help understanding, if that's possible. Which brings me to this point: this is a rather slow movie. It reminds me in many ways of Asian cinema, particularly (some) Japanese movies (maybe Yasujiro Ozu). There is minimal dialogue, but well delivered by the actors and I have to give a mention to Martin Dubreuil, who played Anthony Lemaire. I didn't know him before this movie and he delivers a terribly solid performance here. Claude Legault is also excellent.

All in all, this is a great film. There is one thing I recommend though; do not see this in the theatre, because of the damned food and plastic bags noises. The silences in this movie need to be respected and it is very annoying when you hear someone talk during this movie, even more so because there's no music. Rent it or buy the DVD (Blu-ray?).

This is my first review, I hope it makes sense.

Comments: