The House That Jack Built | Film Review

Hey Guys x

I remember a commotion being made over this film when it first came out - I think people walked out of the screening at the Cannes premiere because it was so disturbing. So of course, that made me excited to watch it. Thankfully it was (and is) on Amazon Prime Video, so I could watch it easily.

Jack (Matt Dillon) is a failed architect who tells the audience the story of five murders that he committed, comparing each one to a work of art.

I wasn't sure what to make of this film after first watching it, but after sitting on it for a day or so, I think I liked it more than I thought I did at the time.

The first thing that struck me about this film was the unique way that it compares the horrific act of murder to the beauty of art and/or architecture. It does this so early on that it sets up what the film will become.

The moments of voice over which are so infused within the film are very original, but they also break you away from the main story rather than pushing it forward.

We've all seen serial killer protagonists before, but Jack is different - it's like the film isn't asking us to form an opinion on him or his acts, it just wants to tell his story, and I found that really interesting.
The voice over tries to help us get to know this person, but he isn't a character that we particularly want to get to know. In fact, there are times when the voice over feels like he is talking to his conscience, or his inner voice, and again that was really interesting.

I'm going to stop using the word 'interesting' soon, I promise. But for a film with such an interesting premise, a lot of it feels like elongated soliloquies that you don't care that much about, rather than anything of note taking place. And again, this did distract from the main premise of the film. 

There is a point in the film where this character really does become disturbing. It's easy to see how and why this could be too much for some people to stomach, but for me, this actually brought me back to the movie just as I was losing interesting.

The conversations and events are so matter-of-fact that it almost feels like deadpan comedy - it might actually be a funny movie if it wasn't so disturbing.

My favourite part of the movie was where the character that Jack is telling this story to, asks why all of his victims were 'so stupid', and I loved that because I was thinking the exact same thing!
But I also really loved that because it then opened up a conversation about why Jack was focusing his story on these five women, who had made some stupid decisions regarding him. They were not the only people that he killed. Did he find women stupid? Were they easier to kill? Why did he only want to talk about these five? I found that conversation so fascinating.

I found that the film lost my attention so often, but I liked that it did a good job of getting it back. It kind of felt like it knew when attention was waning, because it would throw a murder in to keep things on track.
Speaking of being on track, the film is so much longer than it needed to be. While it didn't feel as long as its 2hr 30 min runtime, it was clear that there were so many parts that lasted way too long and could have been significantly reduced.

Matt Dillon as our protagonist is fine, but this is not an interesting character. What he does is interesting, but he as a character didn't entice me or keep me watching. This was really weird to me though, because by definition, 'serial killer' is a title that should automatically provoke interest and intrigue, but he didn't.

As the film started coming to a close, I felt like it was trying to get more disturbing. But the more it tried, the less interesting I found it. And the last 15 minutes of the movie are the worst. If I were to watch it again, I would definitely turn it off before the end.

Overall, through writing this review I've found that I actually liked the movie a lot more than I thought I did. It's not for everyone, and it's not surprising that it's so polarising. But if you feel like this could be something intriguing, give it a chance because it's a story that you can really sink your teeth into. But make sure you have 2 and a half hours to spare!

6.5/10

Lou - https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/