Bullhead

A film set near the Belgian-Dutch border using mostly Limburgish and seemingly about cattle farmers. Doesn't sound too compelling, but that is the trick that Bullhead plays on you.

You see the title character in the present day at first. He doesn't seem like a very nice guy, to say the least. Director Michaël R. Roskam does a brilliant job of drawing out your prejudices about this grown up Jacky, before hitting you with the harrowing story of his past. Wow! What an impact that makes. Suddenly you find yourself looking at Jacky and his behaviour in a totally different way.

The plot continues to twist with more revelations about the relationships between the main characters. You see early on that they know (or at least recognise) each other, but only gradually learn how.

I found this film fascinating. Particularly the performances of Matthias Schoenaerts as Jacky and Jeroen Perceval as Diederik. It is beautifully shot and the cuts backwards in time are well done.

There are a couple of clumsy devices (Lucia is annoying) and the possible humour of the car mechanics was lost on me as a subtitle reader.

Overall, an excellent film. It is harrowing though. Bad things happen. Really bad things!