Megalomaniac (2022) is a Belgian nightmarish horror movie that questions the invisible line between victim and executioner and how it is crossed. A film about the weight of patriarchy and the illusion of Manichaeism.
It follows Martha and Félix, the children of the Butcher of Mons, a notorious Belgian serial killer from the 1990s. Unstable and riddled with insecurities, Martha lives vicariously through social media. Her brother, crushed by the family legacy, takes over their father’s killings. Harassed and violently assaulted at work, the docile Martha falls into madness and goes through the looking glass into the strange and terrifying world inhabited by her brother
Karim Ouelhaj, a filmmaker known for his awards-winner short film L’oeil silencieux (2016) and for the Fedeora Award-nominee for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival for the drama Parabola (2005), is the writer, producer, and director of Megalomaniac (2022).
Eline Schumacher, Benjamin Ramon, Hélène Moor, Wim Willaert, Raphaële Bruneau, Pierre Nisse, Olivier Picard, and Quentin Lasbazeilles form the main cast.
Megalomaniac (2022) was part of the Fantasia Film Festival last year where it was the winner of the Cheval Noir awards for Best Film and Outstanding Performance (Eline Schumacher). It has also taken part in several other international festivals like Brussels International Festival of Fantasy, Thriller & Science Fiction Films, Fantasy Filmfest, Sydney Underground Film Festival, Slash Film Festival, Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival, Monsters of Film, Grimmfest, Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Telluride Horror Show, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Morbido Film Fest, Imagine Fantastic Film Festival, Terror Molins Film Festival, Soho Horror Film Festival, Night Visions International Film Festival, Rojo Sangre Film Festival, Fantasporto International Film Festival, Fantaspoa International Fantastic Film Festival, and Horrorant Film Festival achieving many other nominations and awards.
Bloody Disgusting has said about the movie that “Writer/Director Karim Ouelhaj crafts extreme confrontational horror that aims to offend as much as it does evoke wrath and societal reflection. It’s at once compelling and uncomfortable to watch“, and Dread Central has stated “Megalomaniac (2022) is top-tier European arthouse feel-bad horror cinema that, paired with stunning cinematography, will thrill extreme horror fans“.
Dark Star Pictures has the distribution rights for the movie and after a limited theatrical release on September 8, 2023, has scheduled it for a digital release on September 26, 2023. Watch the official trailer for Megalomaniac (2022).
