What an outstanding performance by Matthias Schoenaerts. It's a good thing too because he carries the picture. At first I thought it was going to be a gangster type film about the hormone drug trade, but it really is about Jacky Vanmarsenille and how a horrible event in his youth has informed every thing about him. He truly is outstanding as an embarrassed, lonely young man who wants what he thinks he can't have. There is nothing off about Schoenaerts portrayal. Every look, every word is authentic. And this actor can say more with his eyes than most.

The ending of the film, with events unfolding to music that gets louder and louder, reminiscent of I Am Love, is dramatic and overwhelmingly sad. That's how good Schoenaerts is. You care deeply about him and you are with him right to the last frame.

I will definitely be keeping an eye out for writer/director Michael R. Roskam's next project, and I'm looking forward to Rust & Bone even more now that I know Matthias Schoenaerts stars in it. If he is as good in that as he was in this, he will have a new devoted fan.