‘Repulse’ Gets Down And Dirty [BHFF 2022 Review]
Sharai Bohannon
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Repulse is writer-director-editor Emil Krizka’s feature film debut. It’s also a huge undertaking as it juggles a lot of moving pieces. The film follows two dysfunctional families who collide resulting in abduction, filth, terror, and death. It’s a non-linear narrative that focuses on action with minimal dialogue. Individually all of the ideas and devices sound cool and sexy. However, when put together, it’s a confusing puzzle that needs multiple watches to help the audience fill in the blanks.
The minimal dialogue was one of the things in the description that made Repulse for me. I figured this meant we’d spend more time with scares or violence. However, we’re still being dealt interpersonal dynamics of these two families but watch it play out silently. For instance, Robert (Petr Panzenberger) and Katerina (Pavla Gajdosíková) are unhappily married. He moves through the house in black gloves saying nothing but finding ways to abuse her near their child. At one point, he taps her hand with a bowl causing her to burn her hand with scalding hot water. She takes this silently and is rewarded by him hitting her in the bathroom later while their kid listens. We also find out Katerina is having an affair.
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This is all a lot of information, but because no one has a conversation it all feels a bit disorienting. We’re being bombarded with moments but never able to piece anything together. While actions are louder than words, a bit more dialogue would have helped bridge the gaps in some of these ideas.
Because Katerina is one of the leads, we see her fight to survive her abductor Viktor (Stepán Kozub). This makes us wonder why she stays in a cruel marriage because the sparse dialogue doesn’t give her a chance to explain who she is. We see her fight back and exercise a will to survive Viktor but never see that in her home life. We also don’t know what makes her decide to have her affair in her home knowing her husband is on his way back and is violent. The lack of dialogue also makes some of the jumps and flashbacks a little confusing at times. Once Robert has a car accident, it becomes less murky because his injuries tell us where we are.
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One of the things the movie seems to want to comment on is class. Katerina and Robert live in a very nice home. Meanwhile, Viktor’s family lives in a grimy trailer. We also find out that the trailer is where women are tied to a bed and tortured. While we can sit here and discuss what we think the movie is trying to say about class while all of this other stuff is going on, it would’ve been nice had there been a conversation or at least a single line to help us figure out if we’re in the right ballpark.
It also made it hard for me to invest in any characters and hindered what might’ve been an attempt to make Viktor a sympathetic character. Because after two viewings, I still feel like I’m missing something, but I have the feeling that I’m supposed to feel bad for him. Maybe this is one of those times where I disagree with the character turn. Or maybe, I’m just missing something that would evoke empathy because I’m busy trying to solve the Rubik’s Cube that is this movie.
While I did not live for Repulse, I appreciate taking a swing and trying to do something different. Maybe the parts that work can be put onto different vehicles in the future. Or maybe we’ll be able to have dialogues about this one when it has gotten a wider release that will make the journey worth it.
Did you catch Repulse at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival? Let me know at @misssharai.
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Repulse
Summary
Repulse juggles a lot of cool devices and ideas but never gets a firm grip on any of them. It’s needlessly confusing but the quick runtime saves it from overstaying it’s welcome.
