Directed by:
Florian GallenbergerCinematography:
Kolja BrandtCast:
Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl, Michael Nyqvist, Richenda Carey, Vicky Krieps, Jeanne Werner, Julian Ovenden, Martin Wuttke, August Zirner, Nicolás Barsoff (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Set amidst the Chilean coup of 1973, The Colony begins by depicting the masses who are out on the street, protesting against General Pinochet. Amongst them are Daniel (Daniel Brühl – Rush, Captain America: Civil War) and Lena (Emma Watson – Harry Potter, The Bling Ring), a young couple who, like many others, get arrested by Pinochet's secret police for producing propaganda against the regime. Following his arrest, Daniel finds himself trapped in a secret interrogation camp located beneath the infamous Colonia Dignidad; a German sect under the leadership of the notorious, charismatic and unflinching Paul Schäfer (Michael Nyqvist – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, John Wick). Presenting itself as a charitable mission, the Colonia is in fact a place of brutality and terror that nobody has ever escaped from. Desperate to rescue her boyfriend, Lena infiltrates the cult and witnesses the true darkness of Schäfer's regime before she attempts a dramatic escape that puts both their lives on the line. (Signature Entertainment)
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Reviews (10)
I was looking forward to this film, but I’m disappointed. Daniel Brühl was excellent as usual, but this time he was overshadowed by the main villain played by Michael Nyqvist. The role obviously agreed with him. My disappointment stems mainly from the fact that it is difficult to create an atmosphere of terror when you have to rely on mere hints. I'm not saying that I need to see splashes of blood on the screen all the time, but Colonia felt a bit like a porn movie with a bunch of people sitting around a table discussing sex. It could have been a good film if it hadn't been for the wasted potential and the resulting lackluster atmosphere.
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A co-production Requiem for a Maiden without Renč's exploitative lack of feeling and above all without the lesbian scene with Holubová, from start to finish it's an incredibly mind-numbing and routine inspired-by-true-story Pinochet-era romance with no handwriting whatsoever. Emma Watson plays a lunatic well.
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Read the annotation and you will know exactly what the movie will be about. This is such a shame because it becomes boring, actually predictable. Sure, there are scenes that still interest you, not because of their literalness, but precisely because you have to imagine them, but towards the end, the movie turns into a quite cheap action, which is a pity considering the cast.
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Colonia has a somewhat slower start, in which we get acquainted with the characters and the inhospitable setting of Colonia Dignidad, while the second half is already more action-packed, and in the last twenty minutes I was squirming in the cinema, waiting anxiously to see how it would all turn out. Some of the colony scenes were really raw to the point of being uncomfortable to watch at times. It's almost unbelievable how out of control a system based on the thoughts of a fanatical madman can get. In short, a solid drama that gains more power and impact the moment you realize it's based on real events.
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Using cheap clichés from Hollywood genre movies, Colonia is silly in places, but at the same time, it has a solid romantic storyline and, in contrast to that storyline, can also be fascinatingly bizarre (the microworld of the colony, its characters and internal laws). Viewers are frightened by the cruelty of domination and the helplessness of the victims, and the tension’s so great that they are kept on their toes the entire time. Michael Nyqvist’s bad guy is truly abominable.
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