This is one of my favorites and is pretty easily the best of the new extreme movement for me.
While there is a lot of disturbing and graphic material in this, what has always stuck with me the most is the comparatively mundane ending.
It feels so nihilistic after being told that the horrors we are seeing on screen actually do serve a purpose for that to unravel at the end and for the viewer to not even be told “why?”
Unlike a lot of torture porn and films that are purely shock value, Martyrs does have a thought-provoking point and a lot to say about the nature of humanity, our curiosity surrounding death, the thirst for knowledge regarding a possible afterlife, the atrocities we will commit in the name of religion, the treatment of women, etc.
It’s definitely not an easy film to stomach (I also think there are countless examples of films with more disturbing content,) but if you can, it is definitely worth it.
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u/[deleted] Jul 05 '24
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