Anyone who wants to test how much physical and mental violence is tolerable in a film should give Martin Koolhoven’s Brimstone a chance, starring Dakota Fanning, Guy Pearce and Kit Harington. The incredibly tough revenge western by the Dutch director is on Saturday at 10:35 p.m. on 3sat and unleashes nothing less than hell on earth.
Violent thriller Brimstone shocks with almost unbearable harshness
In the film’s biblically inspired story, the relentless Reverend (Guy Pearce) hunts down a young woman, Liz (Dakota Fanning), who he believes has committed a serious crime. In the chase, she gets support from the outlaw Samuel (Kit Harington). However, both fight against an elemental force, because Reverend rolls through the western town like a hellish monster from Koolhoven’s film.
Divided into four chapters, Brimstone unleashes images straight out of a shocking horror film, as it opens with a stillborn child, a penful of sheep killed and a man’s guts, which have been severed from his slashed body, being placed in a noose around his neck.
Brimstone might be going too far for many
And that’s just the beginning of the hard-hitting western thriller that packaged like a classic exploitation film in a stylish art house production becomes. Between incest, abuse, torture, prostitution, various murders and other misdeeds that are difficult to describe, Kit Harington’s character is also at some point severely in the grip. But we won’t spoil more from the two and a half hour chunk of a film.
So our recommendation for Brimstone is also a warning. The incredibly only with an FSK 16 rating might be too much for many – or provide just the shock therapy you’re looking for.
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