Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The US and NATO war in Afghanistan did not generate yet too many movies. Certainly, not many good movies. A few war and B-series films dealt with the conflict in a one-sided manner, focusing on the action, demonizing or at best not dealing with the other side but in a very schematic and generally negative manner. Very few dealt with the dilemmas and traumas of the warriors, or of the families back home. The other side was again absent, a far menace at best. Essential Killing - an European co-production directed by Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski with a couple of well known French actors in the lead roles comes from a very different perspective. So different that it falls in the other extreme, and the result is in my opinion a failure.Let me start with the good things about this film. It's cinematography is very expressive and fits quite well the subject and the action. A Taliban prisoner is captured by the American or NATO forces after killing three soldiers. He is interrogated with brutality, and then taken aboard the plane to another country, supposed European, certainly with harsh winters and very different from the hot desert he dreams to while fighting for his life. The frozen forests, the orange and white uniforms, the silhouettes of the soldiers, the dogs and the wolves, all fit well. One can wonder what actors like Vincent Gallo and Emmanuelle Seigner do in such a film, but they are here and they do well their job. If 'Essential Killing' was only a survival story, it would have worked, although some details are not completely clear (how does exactly the running prisoner escape the wolves? we just see him walking free after a scene in which he seemed to be turn into pieces by a hoard of about six beasts).The problem is that 'Essential Killing' tries to be more than a survival story in in what it selects to show and what it selects not to show. Yes, the brutal methods of interrogation are repulsive, and transporting prisoners in other countries without a judgment may be against the international laws. Yes, even the harsher enemies are human and they have their dreams and they fight for their lives. Human solidarity also works beyond language or cultural barriers. This is fine as well. However the one sided view of the conflict in which the bad guys are 'humanized' to the edge of idealization (dreaming about the beautiful woman covered by the celestial blue burka, come on!) and the good guys are demonized (did not the three soldiers killed in the opening scene have their dreams too?) can work only for people who landed from another planet or are truly convinced that the Taliban are the good guys and the ones fighting them are the opposite. 'Essential Killing' may tell some kind of a partial truth, but partial truths are often indistinguishable from lies.

Refreshingly unlike a lot of Hollywood's products where one is fed the director's opinion and invited to swallow it whole. Here a simple story is told without the usual, clearly identified good and bad characters. We watch a story thread its course and are invited to decide for ourselves who, if anyone, is guilty or innocent. Mahommed, the main character, could easily have been portrayed as the stereotypical Jihadist instead he is depicted as frightened and confused which one would suppose are the normal reactions to the situation he finds himself in. It is set in stark but beautiful environments and one can vividly feel the pain and deprivation which is depicted in a most understated manner. This film is different, it is in a league of its own and will be appreciated by anyone with a mind of their own - essential viewing for those who don't.

It is or better was, really rough to rate this movie. On one hand you have the powerhouse performance by Vincent Gallo, on the other hand, you have a movie that does not live up to this performance. Of course the intentions were more than good. The story has a few things to say (the animal nature, survival and more), but the movie itself is never coherent enough or driven enough to bring home those points.While it is surely intended to be random (or look random), this is also another fact, that does contribute to the fact, that the movie drags and feels longer than it actually is. There are ambiguous things happening, but overall it is not as subtle as it could and judging by the overall idea, should be. So while it won't appeal to Entertainment hunters from the get-go, it is very likely, that it will repel the target audience too.

Really bad movie with no narrative. No ending. It's a run away movie and it's just goes on and on with the same idea and it gets obnoxious and boring! Furthermore, The text writing has no sophistication at all.Don't waste your time and your money. I really don't understand how come the movie won 5 prizes in movie festival. The only thing I was satisfied with in the movie was the nature surrounding camera shooting which was magnificent. But still, the hero just wanders around in nature all along with no words coming from his mouth and the story just goes no where. In conclusion, the film was a waste of time and money and I believe you all will find a better violent and sophisticated movie to go to.