Brimstone

An interesting piece, very unconventional, but unfortunately I found it irritating in its narrative style. The film is divided into four chapters that are scattered in time, making it unnecessarily confusing and over-complicated, which I personally don't like very much. What bothered me the most was when a character dies in one chapter and lives again in the next, I hate that. Another downside is the strong resemblance between the actresses Dakota Fanning and Emilia Jones, I had a hard time telling which one of them was on the set, which is a great shame because the visuals are perfect, the atmosphere is raw and no violence or sex is spared, for which I give a big plus. The highlight for me was the second chapter. The running time is also too long for my taste, so despite the excellent scenes, I can't give it an above average rating. PS: Guy Pearce was really diabolical. 65%. (03/11/2017)

Once again, the Dutch filmmakers pulled off a film with excellent atmosphere. Based on its running time, I thought it would drag on, but instead it just flew by. Guy Pearce was cast in the role of a slimy bastard, which was a perfect fit for him as usual. The story was told in an interesting way, kind of a journey against the flow of time, and it didn’t get boring for even a second. It’s true that there wasn't much action but when it did come it was brutal. The scene with the pigs reminded me of Deadwood and Mr. Wu. (01/25/2018)

Revenant 2 – for women, but with a more sophisticated, non-linear narrative, and at the same time often quite gratuitous violence in an attempt to shock the viewer at any cost. It might seem that this female anti-western is about the role of women in the Wild West, but it is presented too black and white, or only black, in this case. It is a classic revenge motif, only atypically presented and unreadable. Underneath the skin, it looks much more like the director either a) had a difficult childhood and used his frustration for such a cruelly uncompromising depiction of explicit and mental violence, or b) wanted to flash across the Atlantic to show how Europe can kick the US in the balls, because no one is going to let a big production do that. It’s shot in an impressively non-mainstream style, with great performances, but the value of the message is very questionable at best. (04/03/2017)

Two and a half hours of superficial suffering of the main female character at the hands of the main male character. In an epic western setting, predictably and anachronistically played out in four muddled acts, and without a creative filmmaking touch. The frightening moments alternate in places with scenes that are poor in logic and the narrative lacks secondary storylines that would give it additional layers of thought. It focuses solely on intensifying the evil in Guy Pierce’s character to the greatest extent possible without explaining his reasons. Brimstone is emotionally powerful and suffocating in places, but unfortunately it is a one-dimensional story like something out of a mediocre novel for housewives. And with a ridiculous climax. (03/24/2024)

To his own detriment, it deals to much with constantly increasing suffering purely for suffering´s sake. In this case, more than anywhere else, less would be more. The constant martyrdom of the central heroine caused by all men makes the viewer become indifferent, not disgusted. At the same time, this would fix even the biggest snag in the form of too long footage. In any case, as an impressively constructed drama of a (non) western with a patina of a fatal Greek tragedy about a loving "a little" misogynistic father and a "ungrateful" excellent daughter that love men too much. Especially because there are some moments of hypnotic enchantment and because of great acting of Dakota. (03/31/2017)