VICTIMES

François, a solitary and unhappy young man, seeks help by consulting a psychiatrist. But as the therapy progresses, the psychiatrist understands that François is more than anti-social; he’s potentially dangerous and detached from the rules of society. The therapy achieves results, but in the wrong direction. With steely lucidity and determination, François unravels his beasts within and undertakes a voyage towards sadistic self-fulfillment. The psychiatrist, increasingly frustrated and alarmed, calls the police. But the therapy has perturbed his home life, leaving him with beasts of his own to contend with.

In his debut feature, director Robin Entreinger finely crafts a suspenseful and disturbing film. A masterful Valentin Bonhomme as François arouses, at odd moments, unexpected empathy for his anti-hero. And a skillful use of media material – Internet snuff sequences, TV documentaries in the background – all collude to deepen the shadows around what is perhaps our own uncomfortable fasci- nation with the perverse.