I remember reading good things about this movie months ago. But it wasn't until very recently I was finally able to give it a watch. The truth is, I think I was a bit hyped after reading all those wonderful things about this film. Having such high expectations might have spoiled my experience a little bit.
The story is about a Dutch couple on vacation in France. They are having a good time and the woman decides to go buy some beverages in a rest stop but she never returns. Since she had the car keys the man is unable to move the car. He begins to search for her near the shop but she is nowhere to be seen. She simply vanished.
Years later, the man begins to receive letters from an unknown individual offering to meet in person. One day after, he does meet the mysterious person. All he wants to do is to know what happened with his girlfriend.
His biggest problem is that he will now have to deal with a real sociopath. This disturbed man doesn't look like a dangerous person. In fact, he seems like a normal family man. Underneath that gentle touch, there is a man without consciousness capable of the cruelest acts one can think of.
However, he doesn't take risks. He acts in a very calculated way and always has a well-designed plan to have his own way. The missing girl's boyfriend, on the other hand, finds himself in a very vulnerable position between the deep need to know what happened and the risk of having to interact with this man.
The acting was good, the best-acted character was in my opinion, the villain. His performance was far from other iconic performances of sociopaths/psychopaths like the ones we can find in movies such as American Psycho or Nightcrawler, but this character was clearly the most interesting to me.
The story despite being very simple, is intriguing enough and can keep most people interested in it even though the movie does have its slow moments. It is not a scary movie and not very disturbing. It shouldn't be hard to find other movies that are more impactful. However, it has a proper ending that could be shocking for some people.
If you enjoy the mystery/thriller genres, then you should definitely check this movie out. It is worth watching but far from the best.
The best
- Good plot and acting.
- Strong ending but necessary to provide a strong experience to the viewers. Otherwise, this would have been a very soft movie.
The worst
- There are some slow moments. I got sleepy for a while. I went to get a snack to wake myself up and enjoy the final 30-20 minutes.
- Its level of scariness is overestimated. Maybe the people from its time were most sensitive when it comes to these topics.
More information: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/8740-spoorloos
Review: AAA
In numbers: 7/10