CAMP X-RAY about the torture to both – prisoners and guards – in Guantanamo had me in tears. But the floodgates really opened at TRUE BLOOD ‘s finale. What a ride, though! Wait, there’s more: Dark backstories turned MY OLD LADY into tragedy, same with SKELETON TWINS , WISH I WAS HERE and Icelandic epos VONARSTRÆTI – LIFE IN A FISHBOWL. Katharsis through pain, suffering to heal – that’s the recipe behind ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE, DRACULA UNTOLD and DAYBREAKERS, obviously it gets worse with the centuries passing. Desperation and beauty dwell in THE TWO FACES OF JANUARY, and all the valiant Vikings killed in NORTHMEN are well worth a silent prayer to Hel. Powerless struggling for truth and freedom causes many deaths – among them mental sanity – in the brilliant spy thrillers A MOST WANTED MAN and EASTERN PROMISES. Darker motifs – and not only a little social criticism – rule BLACK’S GAME, EQUALIZER and AUTOMATA. And the utter loneliness of human existence in the face of open or hidden violence is at the heart of THE ROVER and ESCOBAR – PARADISE LOST. Don’t get me wrong – those films are not only sad, violent or devastating: They’re absolutely riveting.
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