It's the time of the week again, and for this one it's a trip to South Korea. Not somewhere we've often touched down in our nearly six years of reviewing, but I've seen a whole host of very good non-extreme horror out of the country, so despite knowing precious little about Moebius I came in here with high expectations. And I'm pleased to say Moebius went and shattered them anyway. This was not simply good – this was superb, and in no time has thrown in a claim to be one of my favourite horror films ever as well as being a top-five contender in the all-time Film Gutter list. Not something I say lightly, so let’s explore just what makes this film so great…. This is not an easy film to latch onto, and I expect there's only a limited amount I can do to truly get this one over. The story basically follows just four unnamed characters – a father and son who are the main focus of the piece, a mother who features but is slightly more transient, and a young lady who works at a convenience store close to their home who goes on to be a love interest (of sorts?) for the son. The reason no-one has a name is that the movie has no dialogue whatsoever, so there's never an opportunity to name anyone. The most we ever get are laughter, or gasps, or noises, and the odd scene of someone talking on the phone – from a distance, though, so we can't hear the conversation. Some might argue this is gimmicky, but I'd heartily defend it – an argument I'll come back to shortly. The story begins at full throttle, with mother and father having a falling out before the mum goes and removes her son's... well... member. Ouch. This hangs over much of the movie, as the son tries and largely fails to adjust to this new life while the father tries to find some way to fix it, spending a lot of time looking at penis transplant surgery. The mother drifts off with a stranger for some of the story, only returning for a truly bizarre finale. The story switches focus for much of its runtime to the equally strange relationship between the son and the shop girl (desperately looking for shorthands for characters in lieu of actual names here!) who is raped by his new friends before forging a sort of semi-sexual relationship with the son of the family, where she can bring him to orgasm by cutting or scraping his skin. That probably all sound batshit crazy – mostly because it is. But the whole thing is artfully done, and for me was more a modern take at a Greek tragedy than anything, a totally weird and dark tale barely rooted in the real world despite ostensibly taking place within it. The runtime shot by as the story took one unexpected turn after the other, and I think all the actors involved deserve massive credit for pulling this off without one of them ever speaking. There's never a moment of doubt what anyone is feeling, and to deliver that with only facial expression and body language is really something. This one was certainly a fascinating offering, and I couldn't think of much to compare it to apart from those old tales of Zeus and the gods of Olympus I just mentioned, with all their taboo and boundary breaking. Many have put the spin on the film that this is also a sort of Buddhist fable – and there are allusions to it in the film itself – and while I couldn't strongly disagree, I don't really know enough about the subject matter to tell you for sure. What I can tell you is if you like your movies surreal, bleak and uneasy then this could be one for you to check out – it's certainly my favourite of 2021 so far, and it wouldn't be any surprise at all if it kept that status intact until December. RATING: 10/10. What else were you expecting from my effusive stylings here? A really refreshing movie that kept me guessing all the way, expertly delivered not only from behind the camera but by actors without a single line of dialogue in the piece. What must this script have looked like, I wonder? It's fair to say this won't be for everybody, but this one ticked every box for me, and it has to be top marks at 10/10. TODAY ON THE GINGER NUTS OF HORROR WEBSITETHE TINGLE IN THE ‘NUTS: A CHUCK TINGLE INTERVIEWTHE WIND IN MY HEART BY DOUGLAS WYNNE - BOOK REVIEW THE HEART AND SOUL OF HORROR MOVIE REVIEW WEBSITES |
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