‎Antichrist (2009) directed by Lars von Trier • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Antichrist

2009 Directed by Lars von Trier

When nature turns evil, true terror awaits.

A grieving couple retreats to their cabin 'Eden' in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse.

Willem Dafoe Charlotte Gainsbourg Storm Acheche Sahlstrøm

108 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Naughty ★★★★★ 25

You can say alot of things about lars von trier both good and bad but you can never say he didn't serve up enough provocative portions of psychological gobbledygook to keep us chewing on our cud for days on end!

The opening scene in black and white is unbearably beautiful! If you look at it too long your retina's will surely fry for they have never been ravaged by such exquisite imagery!

The slo mo acts of unbridled amour accompanied by the intensely haunting aria Lascia ch'io pianga have been seared into your memory, the branding iron still stinks of burnt flesh! The other shoe falls an innocent young life is taken! You hear the sizzle as the iron finds…
Review by DirkH ★★ 15

So.....I guess von Trier took the whole 'torture porn' thing too literally.

I can take the pretentiousness and can forgive the self-indulgent ramblings and thickly laid on self-importance.

I can even stand the yucky bits.

What I can't stand is the shallow, cold and completely unengaging treatment of its potentially intriguing subject matter.
Review by Josh Keown ★★★★½ 5

“Nature is Satan's church.”
- She (Charlotte Gainsbourg)

Over on the Internet Movie Database, someone once described Lars Von Trier as, and I quote, ‘an arty wanker’.
Now, although that is perhaps the most unsophisticated and rudimentary way of expressing it, they did have a point. It isn’t hard to see why Trier could be considered pretentious, especially with his most controversial outing yet, Antichrist.

To say it is unforgettable is a gross understatement. Rather, for better or worse, it sears itself into your subconscious, tapping its way into your most deep seated fears. It is a film that will astonish and infuriate in equal measure, a film that cannot be simply watched, but felt. The exact emotions felt will…
Review by Lucy ★★½

a great first date movie
Review by zuhair vazir ★★★★½ 4

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Do not be mistaken. This is a film by the aberrant and outlandish Lars von Trier, who after a lengthy bout of depression made a film in 2009, which is an 'uneasy-intimate' experience with subtle, slow motion shots of snow fall, an explicit shower sex-scene and babies accidentally falling out of open windows. The camera follows the entire 23 second fall of the toddler until the tiny thing (I am still trying to convince myself that it was only a film prop; it certainly was, but not the fiendishly beautiful direction) makes contact with asphalt.

The metamorphoses of the film into a full blown violent, psychological horror drama is film-making at its best and most vile. Not everything is in…
Review by Katie ★★★½ 11

BUT WHY

Recent reviews

Review by Ty Hanson ★★★

A Woodland Critters Easter Special.
Review by JayJung

All beings are equal. This is not because the value is abundant, but due to the fact that there is no value at all.
Review by Benjamin Helmrich ★★★½

This was a really beautifully shot movie, and definitely did it's job of shrouding everything in an eeriness. It was also very well acted (gotta love Dafoe). For the time being though, something was missing for me. Something didn't grab me enough to really make a real impact.

Will note that I imagine this is where Yamamoto Eri Becomes Recoverability Zero probably got the idea for the chapter structure (and the art style for the title cards). Another instance where I wish I'd seen the other first because I kept thinking about the similarity instead of it's effect in this movie.
Review by Candela ½

Asquerosa y sin sentido. Espero olvidarla pronto.
Review by cah △ ★★★½

"Três mendigos: Sofrimento, Dor e Desespero que, quando reunidos, trazem a morte."

"Alocado no Jardim do Éden, o homem desfrutava de sua superioridade, tendo tudo a seu serviço. Não havia sofrimento, dor, angústia ou morte. Era a existência ideal. Os animais e toda a natureza lhe era submissa. Contudo, coube ao homem desobedecer a instrução divina e comer do fruto proibido e, por isso, ser expulso do paraíso. Como consequência da expulsão, a existência passou a ser acompanhada de sofrimento, dor, angústia e morte."

"Essa constelação não existe!"
Review by Gregory Day

Is it too much to hate a director for his or her use of camera zooms? This is typical von Trier, screaming "I am art!" for an hour and forty-eight minutes. Shit, I loathed this fucking movie.
Review by Emily

I literally do not know how to rate this. I hated watching it, it was an offense to my very core, and yet it was beautiful. Some of this is burned onto my brain and it's some of the most disturbing shit I've ever seen. I'm gonna have hellish nightmares for weeks.
Review by Keith LaFountaine ★★½

Watchlist Purge: Horror Edition III - #59

It's been a long time since I have genuinely been unable to gather some thoughts once the credits have rolled. I've been thinking about this film for some time now, delaying the next film in my schedule so I could try to grasp at the straws von Trier is holding.

The thing about this film is that its reputation precedes it. I went in knowing it would be gruesome, gory, and disturbing. Going in, knowing this information, and experiencing the film without knowing this reveals two different experiences entirely; however, I would argue that either situation doesn't necessarily yield a different final opinion. In other words, knowing what would happen in this film…
Review by LarryTheHarry ★★★★ 1

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

This is what happens when Lars tries to make a 'Cabin in the Woods' type horror movie. He just can't do it. "I need genitalia in it. Bloody genitalia. And some weird ghost animals.. Yeah.. and then some slow-mo black and white metaphorical bullshit. Oh boy, yeah, give it to me."
Fun film.