Brain Breakers #3- HEAVYWEIGHT Category

What. In the world. Was. I. Thinking.

Well everyone, this is the final category in the Brain Breakers series. I'm going to be honest with you guys- I've re-written this post's opening paragraph no less than 5 times. While last post's films were disturbing to some extent, the films I'll be discussing today have gone beyond that. Obviously- that's how they were placed in the category they are in currently. These films have fully succeeded in breaking my brain; I've lost sleep, felt repulsed and like I was going to throw up, cringed, covered my eyes while saying "No, no, no, no, no" and have audibly asked myself "What the *$&@ am I watching...?! WHAT THE *$&@ AM I WATCHING?!" Obviously, this is something I chose to do, and only have myself to blame. However, having said that I did have to remind myself a couple times why I had decided to do this whole film-viewing series. I will say I definitely achieved my intended goal- quarantine has become a lot more bearable, and I can definitely see the positives in my quiet, non-atrocity filled life. These films kind of put things in perspective in a really weird kind of way....

As mentioned on my Brain Breaker announcement post, I got the idea to do this because I had stumbled upon a video on YouTube discussing videos that can distract us from the scary awful world we all live in currently. All of these films I have only ever  heard of from May on the YouTube channel "Nyx Fears", so I want to give her full credit for even getting me started on this weird cinematic trip. Without her video discussing movies you shouldn't watch under any circumstance I wouldn't be here today telling you guys about these flicks. Again, if you've liked any of the films discussed so far, I would suggest subscribing to Nyx Fears as May is amazing and discusses films that are similar to this in really cool, relatable and analytical ways. May- if you ever see this, you rock!

Moving on. Below I will be discussing three hard-to-watch films; Enter the Void, Antichrist,  and Visitor Q.  As stated in the above disclaimer, there will be a lot of spoilers ahead as I honestly don't see a way to discuss some of the things in these movies and properly convey why exactly they were so shocking and brain-breaking. These movies aren't without artistic merit, though; being shocking does not immediately make a movie "bad"- and honestly I can say that these films all challenged me in different ways as a viewer and will inevitably affect how I will view film moving forward. Now that that's out of the way- let's get to the task at hand. Put on your big kid pants, everyone. This is where it gets real.

Enter the Void is a film directed by Gaspar Noe that follows the story of a man named Oscar who is currently living in Tokyo and is dealing and drugs around the city, as well as using them. In the film Oscar, while delivering some of his wares, is ratted out to the police by a friend he'd had a conflict with. Oscar hides in a nearby bathroom in a night club called "The Void" while the police order him to open to door. During the conflict Oscar is subsequently shot and dies. The film at that point follows his spirit as it moves through the present, his past traumas, and eventually moves to reincarnation.  But one very important thing to note about this film- it's all shot in 1st person point-of-view; so you, the viewer, are seeing literally everything from Oscar's point of view. You witness everything- even when Oscar's past is reflected upon you see everything right behind Oscar's head much like that of an out-of-body experience. So that really makes things beyond disturbing in themselves. 

Now, before I get too into the film itself, let's talk about Tibetan Buddhism and psychedelic drugs for a second. These two things have a huge impact on the story; these topics are explained via exposition in the early scenes of the movie, but I thought for the sake of the blog I would touch on them here as well. The movie actually starts off with Oscar smoking and tripping on a psychedelic drug called D.M.T. D.M.T, or N-Dimethyltryptamine is a hallucinogenic tryptamine drug. It is a white crystalline powder, and sometimes a resin. It is typically smoked and creates a strong psychedelic experience that lasts for short periods of time, typically anywhere between 5 to 50 minutes on average. On the street it's also known as Business Man's Trip for its short tripping duration versus other psychedelics that cause significantly longer psychedelic experiences that can last for hours. D.M.T. is naturally produced by various animals and plants, and it's even speculated that the human pineal gland secretes it, and releases it when a human is dying.

What does any of that have to do with Tibetan Buddhism, though? Well, as Oscar is tripping on D.M.T., his friend Alex comes over and accompanies him to The Void. While the pair are walking to the club, Oscar and Alex talk about a book that Alex had recently loaned to Oscar; The Tibetan Buddhist Book of the Dead. Alex explains that the book details what the Tibetan Buddhists believe happens to a person's soul after they die; first a person's spirit can see things going on around itself as it's out of the body. Then, the spirit will start to relive past traumas and it could revisit the same traumas repeatedly if necessary. Then there's a period where the spirit sees everything around it covered in vibrant, bright lights; this is apparently the phase that most spirits don't want to leave because it's so beautiful. Then the spirit will be drawn to people who are in the act of making love. According to the book a bright yellow light is emitted from the couple's groin area- the light of combining sacral chakras is what draws spirits in. At that point the spirit can choose which couple it wants to be reborn to as a baby, and the spirit will inherit a whole new life.

Those two factors literally are the hinges the movie hangs on, and it is explored and experienced entirely. While other things do happen that also further the story of Oscar's loved ones and how they cope with his death, literally everything Alex explains in the beginning of the film comes to fruition as you, the viewer, travel through this weird afterlife experience.  

This film obviously features death and different opinions of what happens after a person dies, and that alone can raise some hairs. Also, the graphic sex scenes are plentiful in this film. You get to even see the act of love making from the inside: try to use your imagination to pick up what I'm describing. Chances are you know exactly what I'm talking about. Also, I can say without a shred of doubt this film features probably one of the most accurate visuals on what it's like to have a psychedelic trip. That said, one thing I wish I had paid attention to before starting the film: it is LONG. I wish I had looked at the duration before I got sucked into the story, I'll tell you that. It clocks in at a little over 3 hours, so be prepared to be on this ride for a while. In addition to the duration, the entrancing use of psychedelic imagery, first person perspective, haunting memories of past experiences and more- this is a film that definitely makes an impression and will draw anyone in. It's not just a film, but an experience, and it's brave enough to explore a question that every person has asked at some point in their life; what happens when you die?  If you feel brave enough to see this director's interpretation of the answer, I say go for it. The film is well made, well shot, well acted and will keep you drawn in- even through all of it's craziness. But if you'd prefer to skip on having a cinematic out-of-body-experience, this movie isn't one you would enjoy. 

Next up is Lars von Trier's Antichrist. This film follows the story of a man and his wife. One day while the couple is making love, their 2 year old son Nic falls from a window in their home and dies. The wife becomes consumed with grief and anxiety and her husband who is a psychologist attempts to help her cope with the death of their son. The two travel out of town to a secluded cabin in an area called Eden; a location the she had been to previously with her son as a getaway while she worked on her thesis about gynocide. Lovely stuff all around... 

 While in Eden the wife battles with her internal demons, and the husband starts to see strange things in the woods surrounding their cabin. First he sees a deer with a stillborn fetus hanging from its posterior. Next, he sees a fox disembowling itself, and the creature speaks and tells him "Chaos reigns". Eventually, he digs deeper into his wife's activities she had partaken in the last time she was in Eden. He finds that she had slowly slipped into madness, and eventually began to believe that women are born inherently evil. He is angered at his wife's new-found beliefs, but it's too late. The wife eventually snaps, and after forcing herself on him sexually, she knocks her husband into unconsciousness by way of an extremely harsh blow to his groin with a block of wood. And I don't mean a hard hit to his jewels, I mean it's bad enough that she starts to jack him off after he's passed out and he ejaculates blood. Graphic, I know. I told you this post was going to be shocking. 

She then drills a hole in his calf, and attaches a grinding stone to his leg so he can't get away when he regains consciousness. The husband does try to escape, and is able to drag himself into a foxhole in the forest. There he finds a crow that starts jumping around and squawking, giving away his location. The wife hunts him down, and eventually is able to get him back to the cabin. Eventually they get the stone off of his leg, and after a scuffle with his wife, he strangles her to death, burns her and the cabin down, and escapes into the woods. 

Now, I know I gave away some pretty hefty pieces of info for this movie, but there's still so much to is. I have only watched it once, but I really would be willing to bet money that this movie is one that can be watched multiple times and you'll find something new every time. The film is beautiful to watch- is it graphic and gruesome? Yes, 100%. But the director's use of lighting, setting, color, tone, frame rate and more makes for a visually beautiful piece of macabre art. Honestly, I would suggest watching it just for the haunting beauty in some of the scenes. In terms of film being a visual art, von Trier definitely does utilize it well. Since its release in the late 2000's, Antichrist has become notorious for... well, pretty much everything in it. And I totally get why- it's something that hurts to watch from beginning to end. But if you are up for the challenge, I do really recommend giving this one a shot. Speaking of shots, you may need some if you do decide to watch this- make sure you're prepared before hand! 

"Oh shit friends, it's Visitor Q." - May, Nyx Fears. 

This fucking movie.... 

I can say without a shadow of a doubt, this is one of the most disgusting, distrubing and insane movies I've ever seen in my life. Even out of all of the films I've discussed, and after viewing the other two on this list Visitor Q is the crown jewel of the depraved movies I've seen as of late. 

This movie, directed by Takashi Miike, was a direct to DVD release and has since become one of the most notoriously fucked up films ever to be created. And this isn't surprising if you're at all familiar with Miike's other films. I've only ever seen one of this other movies, and that is Audition, which I feel is probably one of the best Japanese horror movies I've seen. And that's from a perspective of having seen classics like Ju On and Ringu- both of which are prolific in terms of being well known on the horror circut. They even eventually were remade into major Hollywood blockbusters calle The Grudge and The Ring. I doubt we will ever see a reboot of Audition however, as it's thorougly creepy, distubring and horrific, and let's be real- lightning doesn't strike twice in the case of horror remakes. 

Having said that, Visitor Q, while it's credited as a "drama/ comedy"- I feel like both of those genres are used loosely. This film features incest, family abuse, drug abuse, prostitution, rape, murder, necrophilia and lactation sex. Yeah. All of that is in there. I have agonized pretty much all night and day for how to write about this movie, but honestly, I don't even know where to start. The movie is beyond fucked. 

The movie follows a family in Japan- the first scene focuses on the family's father having sex with his prostitute daughter. Later, he gets knocked out by a stranger who hits him in the head with a large rock for no apparent reason. Later the stranger joins the family in their home for dinner. The mother of the family gets beaten by her angry son who hits her brutally with a rug beater, leaving huge welts all over her body. The son also destroys the house by throwing objects through walls and windows. Then we learn that the mother is also addicted to heroin, and works as a BDSM prostitute on the side. Later, the father notices his son being bullied mercilessly, and this prompts him to record it on his digital camera as he's a news personality and he wants to make a story about it for syndecation. While all of this is going on, the stranger who hit the father with a rock is living with the family. This is Visitor Q. He doesn't say much, but him living with the family brings about positive changes. And what would those changes be, exactly? Well, let me tell you!!

First he introduces the mother to lactation sex. For those who don't know, that's the act of literally applying pressure to a woman's nipples by way of squeezing or suckling hard enough to produce milk, and the woman derives sexual gratification from it. After making a huge milky mess in the house, the mother starts to display more confidence at home and with her son; even going to far as throwing a knife at his head when he starts to try and abuse her. She misses, but the point has been made. 

He also helps the father! The father convinces his anchorwoman coworker to help him report on the bullying his son is experiencing. One day, the father, the coworker and Visitor Q are all in the father's car, watching and recording the son getting bullied again. The coworker eventually says it's stupid and doesn't want to do it, and the father gets angry, chases her down as she's leaving, rapes her and accidentally kills her. He then loads her body up in his car and takes her back to his house to cut her up and dispose of the body. While he's marking what areas to cut, he decides to have sex with her dead body.  While this is going on, the wife is showing off her new milking skills for Visitor Q inside, and literally turns the floor into a wading pool of breast milk and vaginal squirting on the floor. 

We cut back to the father who is still going to town and while he's having sex her body starts to move into rigor mortis and he gets his penis stuck inside of her. His wife has to help him get out by way of giving him heroin. Isn't this lovely? What a funny comedy, right? 

There's more that happens in this movie, but honestly do you REALLY want to know more?? Honestly I wasn't even sure I was going to talk about all of that because it's just too messed up. But this is why this movie is a hard-mode flick. It's hard to get through, hard to find, hard to stomach-- out of all of the movies I've watched this is the one that really took a lot out of me. I honestly can't say I would recommend this film for anyone for any reason outside of a dare. I would say in terms of Visitor Q I would put this on par with shock videos like 2 Girls One Cup, or Two Kids in a Sandbox but this one is decidedly longer. 

Well, there you have it folks. I've successfully and sufficient shattered my mind and seared my retinas with images that I won't soon be forgetting, and some I really would rather bleach from my memory all together. I'm looking at you, Visitor Q.  All in all, I've honestly kind of enjoyed this whole process- it's been nice to take my focus off of the horror that is COVID-19 and focus on imaginary horrors in its place. I hope that I've also inspired you guys into trying different films that you've either never heard of, or films that challenge you as a viewer.