Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

tieman64 "The searching-out and thorough investigation of truth ought to be the primary study of man." - CiceroDirector Nicolas Refn's first English language film, "Fear X" is an intermittently interesting psychological thriller which stars actor John Turturro as a lowly security guard struggling to cope with the murder of his wife. The film adopts a muted tone, observing from a distance as a grieving Turturro devotes his entire life to finding his wife's killer. But as Turturro scours security footage, interviews suspects and tracks down leads, it becomes increasingly apparent that Refn is uninterested in conventional "mystery movie" dynamics. Instead, Refn turns Turturro's quest into something more existential; man's inability to recover the past, to fully know another human being, to ever map all mysteries and to ever know the full, unvarnished truth. Turturro's therefore on an ontological mission, but reality never becomes clearer to him. What's thus most interesting about "Fear X" (literally, "Fear What?", a fear of the unknown) is the way clues and characters are stumbled upon which may or may not be clues, and who may or may not be relevant characters. By the film's end you are given enough material to piece together at least three possibilities regarding the disappearance of Turturro's wife, but the truth remains tantalizingly obscured. Most criticise "Fear X" for its "open ending", but there's nothing wrong with ambiguity. Ignoring the fact that Refn's ending isn't as ambiguous as it is made out to be (Turturro's wife was the victim of, take your pick: misidentification, revenge, random chance, or a scorned secret lover), the real problem is that, though the film features some brilliant sequences, by its second half "Fear X" begins to feel derivative of more well known films. For example, Refn's shots of Turturro rummaging through security footage recall Antonioni's own ontological mystery movie, "Blow Up", which featured another confused hero fumbling through image banks. "Fear X" also recalls De Palma's "Blow Out", itself a homage of "Blow Up", whilst Refn's gracefully shot "mall sequences" recall the gliding cameras and prowled malls of De Palma's "Body Double". Later, unsettling shots of hotels and elevators recall "Barton Fink" (again with Turturro) and "The Shining", whilst the film's plot recalls "The Pledge", "Session 9", "Birth" and Dumont's "Humanity". "Fear X's" tone also strongly resembles both that of Kubrick's filmography, and modern Kubrick imitators (Dumont, Haneke, Antonio Campos). The film simply isn't as esoteric as it pretends to be. Still, films like "Fear X" are rare, and it does enough things right to forgive its weak climax and cribbed style. 8/10 – Worth one viewing.

LCShackley I was drawn into this movie because of the moody atmosphere and the desire to see John Turturro's character resolve his personal mystery. He's a very interesting actor to watch because he's a bit off-beat and he knows how to use his face to reflect a wide range of emotions. (Watch him, for instance, in the scene where he views tapes of his wife's murder over and over.) As further elements were added to the film (the cop conspiracy) I thought, "OK, we're going to find out that the mystery is a really bigger thing than just a local accident." Although the idea of guys from Montana chasing a bad cop in Wisconsin seems a little far-fetched. But then the movie goes haywire and the director chickens out of a resolution with a lot of arty shots underscored by Brian Eno's typical hash of drones and blurps.I was not surprised to see at the end that this was a movie produced by a young European director, because there's a plague of them out there making senseless films (La Moustache, Saint-Ange, Cache, etc.) but hiding behind their pose as "auteurs." Maybe "hauteur" would be a more appropriate word. Directors who are funded by loads of EU organizations and don't have to rely on the free market dump out tons of garbage like this for the world to wonder at. If they had to compete in a Hollywood-style studio system they would be gone in a flash.Whatever you do, don't bother with this film. Like the French films I mentioned, the first hour leads you to believe that it might be worth watching. But it's not.

turquois-1 The music is good-- adds suspense. The photography is great. However, there is no plot or story. I was excited when it was rated 3 stars as a movie for Encore showing. About halfway through the movie, I kept feeling that there were some parts cut out of it or perhaps I went into a coma and missed some connections. I even went through and replayed some parts to see if I missed an integral clue. I have a master's degree in psychology and enjoy a good read as well as a good movie plot. I felt lost at the end of this movie. I wondered what actually happened. Was it a joke on the audience? What was the purpose of some of the characters in the movie because there did not seem to be a connection to some of them. I was very disappointed and even angry that I spent my time watching this movie. I like plot teasers and movies in which you have to view over again to get the point-- such as with The Sixth Sense. However, The Sixth Sense had a plot. I was so angry that I even decided to make a comment about it, which is rare for me.

aquietzone This is by far one of the greatest "understated" thrillers of all time...every scene, gesture, bit of dialog seemed to gnaw at me, draw me into a strange feeling that no matter what happens, the feeling of alienation will not go away...yes, there are one or two coincidences that seem a little too much, but if you just flow with it, you will enjoy it without having to know all the answers or have every loose end tied up for you..the photography is first rate, the atmosphere intense, and the acting is refreshingly real for a change....the movie scared me on a level I never expected....I highly recommend this move..some of the reviewers who trashed this movie probably just need to see explosions, bullets flying and chase scenes to be in suspense.....go see it!