A Serbian Film (2010)

“A Serbian Film” is listed as the most disturbing film in the horror section at Scarecrow Video, a video store that I rent many of the movies I review. I will agree that the content of the film is disturbing and that the film loses any entertainment value it had after the film hits the 50 minute mark, but I can’t say that the movie itself is disturbing. Perhaps it’s because I read about the disturbing scenes in advance but I don’t think that is entirely the case. While the movie has some scenes that have caused it to be banned in various countries, the way that those scenes are presented takes off the edge somehow. Another way that the movie takes the edge off is by choosing what to show and not show on screen; other films with less disturbing content come across as foul and disgusting by showing too much while this movie bluntly implies some of the time. The character that is involved doesn’t want to be and it’s this acknowledgement and the choices he makes while in control of his facilities makes this character as a victim in his own right. As I said, the entertainment value is lost at the halfway point at which time the film becomes more of a case study in which to compare other movies to.  

Milos is a retired porn star who is trying to support his wife Marija and his young son Petar. He’s offered an unbelievable amount of money to take a role in an “artistic” porn movie but he’s not allowed to know what the script is but his wife talks him in to accepting the role. After a few days on the set, being followed around with men with video cameras while he’s wearing an ear piece and being told what to do by the director, Milos tries to quit after seeing the direction the film is going, a direction that he is not comfortable with. The director tries to bargain with Milos by showing him one of his early films. Milos reaction to the film sets him over the edge, quitting in the spot and leaving the compound in a hurry. Milos ends up being drugged and wakes up three days later with scattered memories of what happened. He find a set of films that he watches as well as visiting various films sites and slowly recalls the horrors that he caused and lived through.  

Milos and the director