Antichrist (2009) #HorrorMovie Review

Nature is Satan’s church.

Antichrist (2009) is one of those “artsy” horror films that is separated into chapters like a book. I’m wondering if bells and sirens are ringing in your head because I said “artsy” horror since normally, I hate those movies. This one is among the exceptions that I loved.

Spoiler Alert

I’d never heard of it until I was scrolling through the offerings on IFC OnDemand and I figured I’d give it a try, I can always stop it and pretend it never happened if it’s a big suck. I was hooked from the Prologue where William Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg have sex in a black and white world while their son, Nic, falls from an open window.

Charlotte Gainsbourg plays She, who has a breakdown after son’s death, which is expected, I can’t imagine a parent losing a child. He is a therapist and takes over her case, firing the doctor, he takes her to the woods because she fears them and he figures that exposure therapy is a good route to help her.

No More Spoilers, I promise

The cinematography is spectacular as are the visual effects that crept in and took me by surprise. This is one of those films that if you turn away for the briefest moments, you might miss something amazing like the disturbing wildlife shots.

Antichrist plays with many themes while the main one remains psychological. The amount of sex amazed me, but it works for this film and isn’t out of place with the manic personifications. The violence, including the self-inflicted, caused my mouth to pop open more than once in tandem with good ole sphincter clenching.

Lars von Trier went far beyond my expectations for any film, and I absolutely applaud him for it, giving him 5 out of 5 Stars.

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