Colonia

In collective scenes sufficiently predatory and absorbing, in moments of terror it forces you to avert your gaze. As a whole, in its message of freedom of spirit, mind, and humanity, it does not fail; in the possibility that something like this is real even in modern history, it is fatally depressing. When looking at the flawless Emma Watson and the captivating Daniel Brühl, I am willing to forgive a few minor stumbles because the content outweighs the importance of the screenplay form this time. (12/04/2016)

I was looking forward to this film, but I’m disappointed. Daniel Brühl was excellent as usual, but this time he was overshadowed by the main villain played by Michael Nyqvist. The role obviously agreed with him. My disappointment stems mainly from the fact that it is difficult to create an atmosphere of terror when you have to rely on mere hints. I'm not saying that I need to see splashes of blood on the screen all the time, but Colonia felt a bit like a porn movie with a bunch of people sitting around a table discussing sex. It could have been a good film if it hadn't been for the wasted potential and the resulting lackluster atmosphere. (18/11/2016)

A co-production Requiem for a Maiden without Renč's exploitative lack of feeling and above all without the lesbian scene with Holubová, from start to finish it's an incredibly mind-numbing and routine inspired-by-true-story Pinochet-era romance with no handwriting whatsoever. Emma Watson plays a lunatic well. (05/08/2016)

You read the synopsis and you know exactly what the film is going to be about. That's a real shame because it becomes boring, actually predictable. Certainly, some scenes still intrigue you, not because of their literalness, but precisely because you have to speculate, but towards the end, the film turns into quite cheap action, which is a shame given the cast. (10/06/2016)

Using cheap clichés from Hollywood genre movies, Colonia is silly in places, but at the same time, it has a solid romantic storyline and, in contrast to that storyline, can also be fascinatingly bizarre (the microworld of the colony, its characters and internal laws). Viewers are frightened by the cruelty of domination and the helplessness of the victims, and the tension’s so great that they are kept on their toes the entire time. Michael Nyqvist’s bad guy is truly abominable. (21/03/2016)