Chained

One of the most difficult honorable mentions I've ever given. This is an unflichingingly violent and in substantial ways misogynistic drama dressed up as a lurid horror film.

A young boy is taken in and imprisoned for many years in the rural home of a serial killer who abducts him and his mother. The violence of several killings and the boy's imprisonment and enslavement by the killer are prominently and unflinchingly shown, but the real story is the development of their relationship and conflicts.

Despite being directed by Jennifer Lynch, critics have called it misogynist and I think they're right. The women in this film are two-dimensional and serve mostly as props to move the story of the mens' relationship along before they meet a grisly end. (Note that Lynch also directed "Boxing Helena" which people had similar complaints of misogyny about.)

At the same time, while it should have been just an exploitative genre exercise, somehow, it's a quietly very well-made film. The ending kind of peters out, unfortunately, but it's almost an afterthought, not really part of the substance of the film.

It really helps that the acting is excellent. Vincent D'Onofrio, always unrecognizable, brings his usual simmering, understated menace as the villain, and manages to impart some depth and humanity to a truly horrible psychopath.

But, much as I personally... well, I hate to say I enjoyed it, but as a piece of filmmaking, I did... but, boy, I can't recommend watching it. It's dark, slowly paced, casual about depicting brutal and graphic violence, all-around repugnant in many ways, and, I imagine, would be nothing but a cheaply lurid, deeply unpleasant and difficult watch for anybody who can't see appreciating the twisted emotional development of an unrepentant psychopath's relationship with an imprisoned child. And who could blame anyone who couldn't?

If you're prepared for that, watch at your own risk.

I only found out after watching it that this is a (a href="?p=1956#canadian" target="_blank">Canadian production. Once again Canada produces a horror (or, horror-adjacent?) film that's somehow just a notch better than it ought to be.