Simon Killer (2013)

Sadly Over-hyped

An Exercise In Nonsense

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

I was very impressed at the intelligence and subtlety of the direction and the protagonist's portrayal in this film. I very quickly felt queasy and uncomfortable in the right way with the story - one needs to recognize that this is a larger canvas, a deeper psychological layout and one needs to wait, step back to see the bigger picture. Very well put together indeed, and hinges well on the authenticity of the performances.Recently graduated from college, ordinary American male, Simon is in France for reasons which are unclear, after a serious breakup which is unresolved for him. He appears ambivalent about his expectations for the place but possesses yearning for connection. The film follows his initially aimless wandering through overcast Paris but over the course of the film his behavior evinces troubling questions, creating a picture of complex and disquieting psychology.I have to agree with the sentiments expressed by a few other IMDb reviewers - there is a problem which is troublesome for films of this nature. Who wants to spend so much "subtle" time with such an flavorless, watery and increasingly unpleasant person? It should be recognized that these qualities are exactly what the filmmakers are aiming at. Some personality types are parasites which require a host to feel content. However, that may be a flaw, in my opinion.A realistic portrayal of everyday psychopathy can be presented from a revelatory and entertaining viewpoint casting new light into a previously hidden part of life. When it's presented in the dour, and faintly bland & vague way it's done here, it just feels like you're watching yourself, friends, family or co-workers in a way that feels less like an 'escape to the movies' and more like work. Good films make that work invisible or enjoyable. This film has very few pleasures to deliver. That too, is the perhaps filmmaker's point.I may be over simplifying my point or not making a good one, but it certainly is a problem that many artistic statements have to contend with - don't make your audience regret the time they spend with your story. If your protagonist has a troubled mind, the audience has to occasionally relate to him/her. Make that experience MORE engaging than one's own life, not less. Again, that may have been the filmmaker's point.

Simon is a recent college graduate who has recently broken up with a long term girlfriend. He wanders the streets of Paris, brooding over his former partner, Michelle. Along the way, he meets a prostitute, first as a client, and later as a roommate. He comes up with an idea for her to make easy money through blackmail. The problem is that the movie meanders with bad direction and no real conclusion. Simon is a man with no emotion, and, in the end I did not care about him at all, or any other character he encounters on his meaningless travels. I could not wait for film to end, and there is no reason at all to sit through Simon Killer.

Brady Corbet is Simon. Simon has just arrived in Paris, heart-broken over a recent break-up and uncertain about his future. After having sex with a prostitute he manipulates his way into a serious relationship with her. A relationship that involves drugs, blackmail, betrayal and weird sex.The less you know the better this memorizing masterpiece will be to experience for the first time. This is one sick and brilliant portrait of a sociopath made up of beautiful moving pictures set to an epic soundtrack. Antonio Campos has nailed it. Perfectly paced to place us in Simon's shoes, Simon Killer is horrifying eye and ear candy. It's slow and somewhat minimalistic but it's because of this that is seems all that more real. Therefore all that more frightening.

"Superficial charm and average intelligence. Untruthfulness and insincerity. Poor judgment and failure to learn from experience." All the attributes of a psychopath are handled brilliantly by Antonio Campos and executed flawlessly by Brady Corbet. This film has been on my mind for a few days as I remember the edgy scenes with actors half off the screen and my wishing I could just nudge the camera a little bit to see what's going on... although it would not have mattered. The story here is powerful and tells a tale of a manipulative and mentally unbalanced character, but that's not really why I liked the film so much. What blew my mind is the visual treatment, the blasts of audio, the unforgiving sex and the feeling I was looking at an accident I could not turn away from. Lots of similarity to the films of Haneke and Dumont but taken to the next level with an uncompromising cellphone video sensitivity.