Colonia

Movie, 2016, R

Premise - Lena’s boyfriend is a rebellious German photographer in Chile, who gets caught after the military coup and taken to a concentration camp/cult disguised as a church organization. So Lena joins the cult, on purpose to infiltrate from the inside and get her boyfriend back, enduring the camp for months.

Review - This film is ridiculously dark. What’ most disturbing is that this was a real place, in fairly recent times. Everything about it is harrowing. The backwards ways the genders were kept separate, the misogyny, the torture, the child sexual abuse… but most of all what terrified me about this film was the sense of ENTRAPMENT. Only 5 people (Lena/Daniel not included, because they were fictional) ever escaped in 40 years of the cult. The sense of suffocation was visceral. So thank you Emma for enlightening me on this horrific historical topic that I otherwise wouldn’t have glanced at. It happens to be a pretty good film too, and honestly, it grows on me every time I watch it. 

I didn’t realize it the first time I was watching this through… but this is the first movie where Emma Watson was the star. The first name on the cast sheet. Not just some love interest or a cameo, and I’m SO proud of her for that. She really took initiative with this film. This character is BOLD. She’s brave beyond comprehension, and barely seems to even bat an eye. She’s truly a warrior. I can see why Emma would become so fascinated with her because she seems to be the kind of feminist hero Emma admires. (76/100)

What to watch for - I speak a lot but about Emma, but I don't think she gives the best performance of the film. She's great, but I think Daniel Bruhl was INCREDIBLE. Particularly watch for his scenes as Hans. It really shows how compatible Lena and Daniel are. Daniel shows as much incredible intelligence, resourcefulness, and bravery as Lena does. I bought more and more into their romance as the film went on, and I saw how like-minded they were. (One flaw of the film is while they seem to be in love at the beginning, I don’t necessarily buy into Lena’s commitment to risk her life to save him, because their relationship doesn’t appear to be that deep. That opinion changed by the end). 

If you liked this movie, I'd recommend Imperium!

Directed by Florian Gallenberger
Distributed by Signature Entertainment