Very uncomfortable, but very good

Rating: 8/10 (7 November 2014)

Louis Bloom, on encountering a late-night car crash, gets himself a video camera, police scanner, and an assistant, and sets himself up as a video news gatherer, specialising in gory, sensational footage. As time passes, it becomes clear that Louis' agenda is somewhat wonky...
This is a strange film, and somewhat difficult to classify (not that it needs it). The story – man with no goals acquires goals and pursues them relentlessly and with questionable morals – is straightforward enough, but the strength of this film lies not in its story, but in Jake Gyllenhaal's performance as Louis Bloom. Bloom is completely believable, and impossible to identify with. Everything he says comes from on-line seminars, tuition blocs, reference items and so on: he runs his life according to what he has taught himself from the internet, which does not include empathy or morality. Accordingly, he may be outwardly charming – he smiles a lot, but his smile contains no human warmth whatsoever, it is an imitation of a smile – but his judgement of people is based on management seminars rather than emotion: he is incapable of understanding the feelings which drive people. He is one of the most disturbing characters I have encountered in a film in recent years.
This is a good film – disconcerting, but well worth catching.