There is not a word that exists that can fully convey the tone of Big Bad Wolves from directors Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado. Dark is used far too often as an adjective to describe any production with a blackly humourous story or a troubling subject matter but that just doesn’t seem to do justice to a film that will horrify, enthral and amuse you in uncomfortably equal measure.
The basic story is very simple. Dror (Rotem Keinan) is a suspected child murderer being pursued by police detective Miki (Lior Ashkenazi) who after overstepping the mark and assaulting his prey trying to extract a confession is transferred to traffic duty. Gidi (Tzahi Grad) is the father of a missing girl who in turn abducts Dror with the intention of torturing him to discover his daughter’s whereabouts. He enlists Miki as his accomplice and the two set about Dror in various unpleasant and inventive ways.
After opening with scenes more reminiscent to fantasy mixed with rogue police antics Big Bad Wolves descends into grim and brutal torture interspersed with moments of bizarre hilarity. There is everything from bring your kid to work day to a drugged cake via a concerned parent bearing chicken soup. There is never a time when there is nothing new to focus on and it is to the credit of the filmmakers that you never really get a handle on events until the final bleak scenes.
In order for this film to work the performances must be convincing and without fail they are excellent. From the cold calculation of the torturer to the pleas of his possibly innocent victim there is never a misstep. Coupled with the impressive subtlety of the direction you are left questioning the values of the father figures holed up in the cellar of the isolated abductor’s home and are never absolutely sure who is the real victim of the piece. There are other themes at play here which are relevant to an Israeli produced film but ultimately the focus is on the three main characters and rightly so.
OVERALL SUMMARY
Big Bad Wolves is a wonderfully constructed film based on a difficult and delicately handled plot and will warrant repeat viewings, if only to view again the moments when it may have been necessary to look away or hide behind that cushion. There will be few more unrelentingly oppressive and guiltily funny films this year, or any year for that matter.
