Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Spikeopath Tim Roth dons the directing hat for the first time and brings to the screen a shattering tale of incest and child abuse. Alexander Stuart adapts from his own novel and it stars Ray Winstone, Lara Belmont, Freddie Cunliffe and Tilda Swinton. Story is about a family who have moved from London to the Devonshire coast. The son, Tom, is unhappy and feels alienated in the new surroundings, but when he discovers a dark family secret, things become much much worse.It's an uncomfortable viewing experience at times, making it a film you don't readily recommend, but Roth's approach to the story gives out a powerful message without exploitation or sermonising. The script is deliberately taut and sparse, while the marrying up of the crashing waves and jagged rocks of the locale with the emotional turmoil is a deft piece of directing. The use of newcomers Belmont and Cunliffe add a potent sense of realism to the whole thing, aided no end by an intelligent screenplay that doesn't go for conventionality. Quite simply it's an unforgettable film, a claustrophobic emotional battering ram of celluloid. 9/10

xjam13 Tim Roth, didn't know you had it in you. I have to wonder. This was one of those beautiful train wrecks, that the Brits do so well. Wait. Not a train wreck, more of a major city leveled by atomic terrorism. It does so well with that British slowness that I hated as a child but now appreciate in such a huge way. A truly horrible brilliant movie.Of course there will be people who wonder why this movie was made, and I'm one of them. Yet, I have a feeling that unlike the recent Batman movie, this one will be something I cannot get out of my head. Unlike Batman, the characters and story are seared into my memory. Powerful performances by all. I don't even want to single out one actor because it was all flawless.

PeterMitchell-506-564364 Like Gary Oldman, actor Tim Roth has made his first feature, and again, it's doesn't fail to disappoint. Who would of thought in his directing debut, the subject would set around incest. This is a tight solid drama, some of impossible situations. Winstone is having it off with the daughter, but she's not the only one. On their private trips to London another older woman joins them, hence making a threesome. One night the son spots the two in the bath from outside. He threatens to tell the mother if they do it again, which of course they will. This brings the violent streak out in the son. While rummaging through the sister's drawers he finds some naked photos. See, the son is too scared to confront the dad but when he does, it's WAR. Winstone brings a much lighter character to his one in Nil By Mouth, but near the end when he's spouting a string a f words, this kind of resembles him in that movies with virtually some of the same lines. Tilda Swinton (always fantastic) the mother character who has fallen pregnant, of course is oblivious to this. When she has the baby, Winstone already started on it. See, Winstone's got a real problem. The War Zone treads dangerous waters, going places a lot of other movie don't want to go, one scene has the father leant over the daughter, in their private hideaway, the daughter telling him, "Why do you always have to do it like that?". I guess Winstone is courteous, and almost human in that sense, but the real reason is, he can't, is he so's guilt stricken inside, where he would see the mother's face instead. That's my analogy anyhow. I felt sorry for the son who suffers the most in the movie. He so wants to tell the mother, but this is about the worst time. He disclose it near the end which causes the explosive confrontation scene between father and son near the end, a heavy scene with Winstone heavily denying it, and again, the son saying only very few words. Both teen actors in this weren't previously trained and works better for them in the natural performances they give. The War Zone is not for all tastes, but for the others, it's compulsive viewing. performances the give.

lancekoz I know that incest and sexual abuse within families is a MAJOR problem, seemingly in all societies. And I believe it could be a good or meaningful topic for a movie.... but this is not it. This film is so uniquely, surrealistically dismal and disgusting in the events portrayed, that it became more about how it was shown and could it be shockingly, relentlessly depressing, not a credible depiction of the way this problem exists within families. Therefore, it became exploitive of this issue rather than meaningful.Besides the issue of the molesting father, we get a gratuitous, shocking car crash... relevance to the story: zip! We get all sorts of female nudity around the house, including long shots of the teenage daughter's breasts while in discussion. Relevance: zip! Including the silly concept of a girl sleeping naked under a single blanket in an old house in England's winter...why? Just so the blanket could be shockingly pulled away, of course. Add to all this the Euro style of filming where tight shots linger on barely lit sad faces for silent minutes at a time. It was like the director just wanted to practice everything you might do in a Eurotrash horror movie, but give it a topic that might propel him into the realm of "meaningful". I'm not buying it. And WARNING: Do NOT bring this home for the family thinking you are going to see something enlightening about normal family issues. This is a rough, ugly, sad ride thru some real prurient exploitation.