POMO

An interesting subject with a twist that spurs the viewer’s curiosity, which is later cut dead by the absolutely idiotic behaviour of the characters. Or rather by the absolutely incompetent depiction of their psychology and definition of their personalities on the basis of the past they have lived through, which would justify their decisions or at least make them defensible. The only one who doesn’t behave like an alien in the film is the mother played by Mena Suvari. And that’s perhaps only because she wasn’t given enough space for that.

Psychologically well-developed characters and the typically reliable Nikolaj Lie Kaas, but the script shows its age in terms of genre principles. The film succeeds in confusing the viewer, but it makes the protagonist look slightly dumb as it places us a few steps ahead of him in the area of cleverness. How could he have not realised what was going on in the climactic scene?? And the conclusion of the story could have also been more inventive and more believable.

The attempt at turning genre clichés upside down is praiseworthy, but the concept of the twist in the introduction comes across as cheap and sets a low bar. The rest of the film isn’t very well directed; though it is occasionally pleasing with an unexpected development, it is devalued by the strange way the actors are guided and the unnatural dialogue. There is some gore, but it seems excessive when it isn’t part of a more elaborate psychological game, which would have better served a film that wants to ambitiously demolish established genre practices.