Simon Killer ( Antonia Campos, 2012): USA

Reviewed By: Tyler Fourmy. Reviewed at AFI Fest 2012.

This beautifully crafted film twists the viewers emotions as it takes you on a dark, delicate ride of a lonely sociopath in Paris. Directed and written by Antonio Campos, Simon Killer stars Brady Corbet as Simon, our recent college graduate visiting France to escape from his just ended five year relationship. the most compelling aspect of this film was the bold editing techniques of graphic matching with bleeding reds and blues. this technique created a very eerie cool feel to the film while blending psychopathic behavior that is oh-so prevalent to our modern-day society. laced with subtle sex scenes and sprinkled with a healthy dose of violence, the film dives deep into the psyche of Simon as more dangerous leaks of character seems to drip into the relationships he has created.

Simon Killer is the story of a post-grad American that travels to Paris and falls into a lull with a prostitute. Although this summary seems very open and shut, this film plays into many themes of security, dependance and the need for human connection. As his time continues in Paris he seems to get caught in his own web, as he attempts to untangle he slowly falls into the grips of insanity. This dark tale lets the viewer decides how much sympathy we should allow to each individual character in this dark entanglement.

The editing in this film is very beautiful, one moment your sitting in a brothel, then the red covers the screen like soft blood leaking through tissue and before you know it your looking over a city scape and following our lovers into a bedroom. The entire film is based off of mute warms and cools, leaving an emotionally sense of sadness and lust. Another editing technique was in how they used music in the film. there is very little non-diegetic sounds, mostly you hear an extremely loud hip song as you watch Simon walking the streets with headphones in. the viewer feels as if you are in the head of Simon, but then violently switches to a murmur as if you have left his head and are trailing behind him like an estranged conscience.

I really enjoyed Simon Killer, through the deception, love and brief insanity. Its difficult to label this film as a romance, yet it is laced with lust and love. The images are vibrant and beautiful, the story is destructive and dark, with an ominous yet evocative soundtrack. Simon Killer is definitely worth checking seeing, this broken story of dependence will leave the viewer with a strange sense of deceptive wonder.