Director: Karim Ouelhaj
Starring: Eline Schumacher, Wim Willaert, Benjamin Ramon, Pierre Nisse, and Raphaëlle Lubansu
Movie Length: 1 hour 58 minutes
What it’s about: A deranged psychopath and serial killer (Felix) has become the primary caretaker of his sister Martha and their home. Following in his infamous father, the notorious Butcher of Mons footsteps, he continues his fathers murderous legacy. Condemned to the house outside of holding a factory job, the mentally frail Martha bears witness to the horrors and brutality he’s brought into their home. Between her home life and having dealt with violent assault and ridicule at work, Martha has no break from the insanity in her life. She begins her own descent into the darkness her brother and her peers have put on display for her.
What Corey thought: Wow! A lot of thoughts still whirling around in my skull about this one. As a precursor, the film is subtitled for English audiences but the dialogue isn’t heavy so it’s easy to follow along. This was a truly disturbing and psychologically jarring film. Trust me when I say it will live on in your head long after you finish watching. Everything from the cinematography, the acting, to the score, and the story were meticulously crafted. I can only imagine what Ouelhaj could do with a bigger budget. Sometimes though, less is more and he clearly had a firm grasp on the breadth and scope of what he wanted to achieve with this film.
As I said there is a lot of imagery thrown at the viewer in this film. Whether it’s paranoia, grief, PTSD, or just mental illness it helps tie us to the characters in the film. In that way we are not only terrified but also torn on whether or not we feel bad for these characters based on their genes or if we should look on them with disgust. The director does a high wire act exploring the different depths and their emotional states. The violence, when it occurs, is intense, frenzied, and viscera, drowned in bloody and dramatic fashion. It’s hard not to look away at times but you can’t help but keep watching. I’d rank this movie right up there with films like Hereditary and Midsommar. Definitely a great film from Ouelhaj and one worth digesting this fall.
My rating – 9/10 Fantastic!
Megalomaniac is now on VOD.
Have you seen the movie? Feel free to leave a comment below or chat with us on Twitter at @TheConCollectve, Threads at @theconventioncollective, or Bluesky at @theconcollective.bsky.social
We’re always looking for new writers that are truly passionate about stuff – we give you the review materials, the platform and the support to say what you feel from the heart. If you’d like to write opinion pieces about pop culture topics or reviews, reach out to us using the contact us
