'Antichrist' review

It's really good! Now argue about it

By Matt Pais

Posted October 22, 2009

Metromix

After their son falls out a window to his death, a couple (Willem Dafoe, Cannes Best Actress winner Charlotte Gainsbourg) returns to a cabin in the woods where their most raw emotions (and stunning actions) spring from their complete loss of sensation. You won't believe what happens next.

The buzz: Controversial writer-director Lars von Trier ("Dogville") has always been a button-pusher, but reports from Cannes suggested "Antichrist" was the filmmaker's most bonkers outing yet. Will this examination of grief, pain and despair (The film is divided into chapters, and those are the first three) be a horrific examination or just exploitation?

The verdict: No, I can't explain the purpose of the talking fox. But von Trier has crafted a visceral, disturbing experience that turns loss, resentment and miscommunication into the stuff of nightmares—and recognizes destructive human behavior in its most subtle and most identifiable forms. (I promise you, there's at least one shot in this movie you won't want to watch.) These are places to which no one wants to go and von Trier goes there without fear—and possibly with a sick sense of humor—for a discussion of misogyny's history and its presence today. Does this study of gender roles spin out of control? Perhaps. The sex is angry, the violence is shocking, the performances are remarkable, and you will debate this movie all night and into tomorrow.

Did you know? For anyone who's ever fantasized about, uh, a little self-love in the woods, "Antichrist" will make you feel less weird about that. Or weirder. It's a toss-up.