Adam Bevington

Spoilers later in the review . . Thought provoking and upsetting but utterly enthralling. I see alot of reviews giving this film a poor rating and if taken at face value then I can see why viewers would find this film very off putting. The 3 short stories in this film are all weird and off kilter that exist in a world entirely of their own. The line delivery and patterns of speech are at times strange and almost stilted but for me it creates a world that I felt helped drive home the point of the film. Spoilers follow Each of the stories are at times shocking with violence, cannibalism and drug rape featuring but the subtext of them was in many ways more upsetting. For me these were stories of the sacrifices we make in relationships and the various abused that can arise. Story 1 - Coercive control, surrender of our autonomy to the other partner and the feelings of loss when that control is relinquished. When the main character is suddenly "free" they do not know how to function and eventually cross the one red line they had inorder to regain the dubious affection of their controlling partner. The final shot of a broken person being held by their abuser is horrible Story 2 - The levels of self abuse we make inorder to please the other partner. Literally cut away parts of ourselves to try and become the person we think they want us to be, eventually leading to a total sacrifice of the self. Story 3 - This one I admit I think I need more time to digest as having talked about it I'm not sure what I took from it is what others would. For me it was about out ties to the past destroying our present. The main character doesn't have to visit her old life and when she does a shocking turn of events utterly destroys their current life. However I can also see that this is an allegory for sexual abuse/Rape as following a horrible encounter that was not their fault they are cast out from their community and told they are contaminated because of it. Like the stigma that can follow around victims of sexual violence. The more I thought about the more angry it made me feel. There are no repercussions for the perpetrator, only the victim having their life utterly destroyed. There are other aspects of this story that I admit I currently don't understand but this feels like a movie that will sit with me and I will ponder for a while. Overall a movie that was at times a hard watch and that shines a light on some very upsetting themes.