A superbly acted, creepily believable account of the subterfuges by which an apparently unremarkable middle-aged man keeps a kidnapped young boy locked in his house. “A triumph of uneasy cinema… a keen observational thriller.” — indieWIRE
Michael successfully drains the shock out of a frightening premise and instead delivers a keen observational thriller.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2011
Michael 2011
Cannes was not short of provocations this year. Markus Schleinzer, a long-time associate of Michael Haneke, offered this creepily believable account of the subterfuges by which an apparently unremarkable middle-aged man keeps a kidnapped young boy locked in his house. — SR
“Look beyond the subject matter to the film itself and you will discover a rigorously responsible, endlessly disquieting piece of work, acutely sensitive to issues of exploitation… Haneke is an obvious influence on a film that strips away emotion and sentimentality to focus on an almost forensic presentation of the evidence… David Rauchenberger is especially impressive at suggesting the vulnerability and steeliness of [the abused boy]… The restraint of his performance is in tune with a film that takes the sting from a white-hot topic and transforms it into a troubling, thought-provoking and quietly disturbing drama.” — Allan Hunter, Screendaily