A Masterpiece!

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Having researched colonia dignidad for some years I was looking forward to seeing how brave the filmmakers would be at addressing some of the underlying 'rumours' surrounding this place and its real structure, sadly they have not don't the story justice.... the movie is however a good thriller and part way to showing what a inhumane creature paul shafer was. I would have liked to have seen the makers explore the bigger questions such as: 1/ are we really expected to believe that an ex Nazi paedophile was backed by not just the Chilean government but also the German embassy, would these people really put their heads on the line just to protect one rather unimportant man from doing something despicable? they would however do it to protect something far larger and far more powerful........ 2/ who was really behind the weapons manufacture at the colony, as I assume it takes more than a low level Nazi paedophile to create a weapons manufacturing plant, let alone chemical weapons 3/ to build such a complex as colonia dignidad along with its enormous military grade subsystem would take some serious financial backing and purpose other than a paedophiles playground 4/ we saw a shot of the advanced (for its time) radio room but no questions as to why it was there, also no mention of the enormous radio antenna on the estate... does a insular cult camp need mass communication? 5/ no mention of post war Nazi escapee's who according to witnesses visited and had a role there 6/ many more things that could have been addressed but maybe that's something you can research yourself

Of course, this wasn't the first film to prove that shock value can be done well, but it is not common for one to use it. Shock value is usually looked down upon for reasons I'm too dumb to understand, and I approve of shock value for reasons people are too smart to understand. Colonia is based on a shocking true story about a real-life cult and it's horrific beliefs, and although we don't usually see anything, implication's enough to shock viewers, especially considering the fact that you know it's a true story. It's not shocking content-wise like A Serbian Film, it's shocking atmosphere-wise like Requiem For A Dream. Of course, it's nowhere near as good as Requiem For A Dream, yet on it's own it stands on it's two feet and confidently speaks it's opinion, using truth to convince you. I wouldn't say the film's anything special, but you'll probably remember it for a while. I think the editing could of been a bit better, but otherwise it was good. Go watch it, I think you'll like it.

This is a really well made film.It is impressive at being full-on creepy, with many thriller elements, but also shines the light of hope which teases the audience. It is hard to believe that communities like this exist around the world - even today, but are hidden from sight. As they say,"out of sight, out of mind". How do we prevent such communities from existing and gaining power when corruption is so abundant in many of these countries? It just gives me the chills and makes me feel so sad and helpless to know that this is real life. There is a great cast in this - looks like Emma Watson's name is coming up more often nowadays. Her and Bruhl have great chemistry on set, and are able to pull at the audience's heartstrings. What really sells the story though, is the expressions of Nyqvist. He sends chills through the screen with his cold stares and lack of empathy. Carey as well, does well as the harsh and unfeeling matron.However, it isn't really shown what Daniel was protesting against, or his motivation in doing so. We understand that both Daniel and Lena are foreigners, but how or why they came to Chile is a mystery. Additionally, the cinematography is great. There are quite a few scenes shot on a hand-held camera or that have unique angles and movement to them, and this goes well with the subject of the film. It helps to emphasize the desperation and panic that the characters feel in that particular moment. The visuals and color aesthetics serve well to compliment the film as well. With a lot of gray-scale and dark scenes, the movie takes on more of a thriller atmosphere. The screenplay and directing is great too, as filmmakers didn't explain things explicitly, but tended to show and imply things instead - involving the audience more by making them question what may be happening. Overall, a very creepy situation which was depicted impressively in this film.

The synopsis of this movie is slightly vague and it is for the best. It is way more dark and complex that you might think initially. The atmosphere is set very well and the actors from Emma Watson and Daniel Brühl all the way to simple characters perform very well and make sure you are fully submerged in the dark setting. We definitely need more movies like this as they show the world that we live in and what some people have gone through. Not to forget that establishments like this still exist today in many places around the world.Definitely recommending it!