 | MOVIE DETAILS • Name: Breeder • Year: 2020 • Country: Denmark • Director: Jens Dahl • Main cast: Sara Hjort Ditlevsen, Anders Heinrichsen, Morten Holst, Signe Egholm Olsen, Eeva Putro • Runtime: 107 minutes • Production company: Beo Starling • TRAILER
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Do you miss the first decade of the century, when a set of risky over-the-top horror movies shocked the scene bringing new excitement and perversions to the genre? Movies like Eli Roth’s Hostel (2005) and its also superb sequel Hostel: Part II (2007), Tom Six’s The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009), and a bunch of titles under the New French Extremity label in where it outstood Pascal Laugier’s little gem of brutality called Martyrs (2008)? Because I do, I really miss those times. And if you also do, you better mark this one and don’t miss the chance to watch Breeder (2020).
The movie starts with a sordid and decadent tone already present since the beginning, but one can’t even fantasize to expect what is coming next. In the movie, Mia is a woman in her early 30s that sees how her perfect life goes through a crisis. Her husband Thomas is one of the head members of a mysterious and secretive experimental cure for aging that promises to make them achieve a fortune with their exclusive clientele. They live in a pleasant high-class neighborhood, they are young, good-looking, and healthy, and everything seems to be very prosperous in their lives. Until one day Mia decides to dig more into her husband’s business, and then that changes everything forever.
I won’t go deeper in details because the surprises here are one of the key elements. All I can say is prepare your stomach because a very generous dosage of brutality is hidden behind the secret experimental clinic.
The screenplay written by Sissel Dalsgaard Thomsen is solid and takes us to a path of mystery where every new hint adds more sleaze to the plot. The same obscure feelings the character of Mia feel when she tries to look after the steps of her husband. And that debased screenplay found a great ally as the director Jens Dahl is, understanding the darkness of the story and building a movie that follows its own path, not caring about considering or what others might think. Breeder (2020) is an island of a movie in the sea of indulgence that the horror scene has become in the last 15 years.
The acting in Breeder (2020) is very brave and sensational, taking into consideration the nature of the happenings in the movie, by both the main actors and the supporting performers. A group of fearless actors at the orders of a story that surely might mark their careers, but that they accomplish with excellency and total dedication. And a special mention to the sets where the second half of the movie takes place, real dungeons of hell, that become the perfect scenario for all the nightmares happening in the film. Everything in Breeder (2020) works flawlessly. Well, perhaps the music score is too simple and at moments becomes a little annoying since it doesn’t bring new feelings to what the images and the action provide, and I didn’t end up being as satisfied with the end of the film as I was through the rest of the running time. But those are two little details that almost fall into oblivion, that won’t allow Breeder (2020) to be an undisputable masterpiece but neither deduct any ounce of interest to the global product.
I have seen some reviews where they complain that Breeder (2020) is icky and too violent. Well, ladies and gentlemen, you gotta know what you are watching. Probably those were the same people who complained about the Hostel movies, and these became essential titles to take a global picture of the new horror scene. At moments, while watching Breeder (2020) I had the thoughts of being in front of “the new Martyrs (2008)”, which are big words. And I don’t care if other critics or audience members think that these are disgusting films that shouldn’t be done. Those films must exist, and many more to come.
If you felt disgusted by the so-called torture-porn subgenre of the first decade of the century then you should avoid Breeder (2020), it might horrify you. But if you are thirsty for dangerous and brave films, even if they step deep in cruelty and abominable events, this could become an exciting watch.
RATE: 7/10
IMDB URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt11003228
