Trauma ★★★
‘THE new benchmark in cinematic torture-porn’ is not a description to be taken lightly.
Chilean writer/director Lucio A. Rojas’ third film, 2017’s Trauma, will shock and revile.
It’s a very easy film to criticise and clearly can be dismissed as nothing but a well-made exploitative rape/revenge thriller.
But Rojas’ film is also a social commentary on his homeland and the ongoing psychological impact of its dark, recent past.
During the 16-year, right-wing reign of the horrendous dictator Pinochet, thousands of people were murdered by death squads determined to rid the South American country of alleged communists.
Rojas’ film begins in the dungeons of that period when a teenage boy is left traumatised by having to take part in the rape and murder of his own mother.
Years later a group of women are terrorised by two men whose connections to this past are slowly revealed.
The film is obviously very tough viewing. The first half is better than the second which feels surpringly even more exploitative as a basic revenge narrative.
Trauma doesn’t just make the simple observation that many Chileans are still impacted and the country itself struggles to comprehend its past.
It also considers what enabled this violence to take hold in the first place and how modern Chilean society and government treats the victims and perpetrators and protects from history ever repeating itself.
If you have ever seen a well-made torture-porn film of this type you have to be impressed by the bravery of the actors involved, whether they are portraying victims or assailants it must be a very psychologically tough experience.
Even more amazing is that Catalina Martin, Macarena Carrere and Dominga Bofill are all making their debuts in a feature film while its just Ximena del Sol’s third. ‘Veteran Daniel Antivilo gives a truly frightening performance as the main protagonist.
It’s a difficult film to rate, being almost unwatchable at times. Rojas has probably gone too far in depicting the sexual violence and his important messages are lost as a result.