Buster's Mal Heart (2016)

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1. 

   thecomamba

   Apparently I am the first person to dislike this film. To explain why, I'll have to rely on massive spoilers, so be warned.
   
   

   Nothing but spoilers and opinions from here on.

   
   
   The film frequently jumps back and forth in time, this way we learn that Rami Malek's character was once a simple hotel employee pretty low on the social ladder, but at some point decided to escape society and become a hermit. We are shown late-night television programs of a "physicist" talking esoteric nonsense about a second inversion, and that you can only escape it by jumping through a wormhole to an island. After a while DJ Quall's character shows up to Employee Malek, and mirrors the belief of the inversion and living outside of society. We see Hermit Malek repeating these credos via anonymous calls to radio and television shows.
   So far, the cinematography was fun, the characters were believable and well acted, and there was the suspense of why Emloyee Malek transformed to Hermit Malek, and what happened to his wife and daughter.
   
   DJ Quall's charakter later shows up beaten and begs for a stay in the hotel, Employee Malek gives him the room next to his wife and daughter, who also stay the night. On the following morning the two are dead and the visitor is gone.
   I felt a plottwist coming, and I hoped it would be that Hermit Malek had adopted DJ Quall's charakter's views and was outspoken about them in order to find him again and take revenge. It was plausible, Employee Malek told us that he wanted to become self-sustained, and DJ Quall's charakter did not have an ID and was presumably very hard to track, yet he kept coming back to Employee Malek, whom he called a "friend".
   
   Alas, the twist is that DJ Quall's character was never there, and that Employee Malek had killed his family himself. It can't put my finger on the why, but it didn't work for me.
   This was a bit disappointing, but it would not have made me give the film a thumbs down and my first comment on this website ever. No, my big issue is the last minute.
   
   Hermit Malek is surrounded by the police, he shoots in the air, there is a puff of smoke, and then he is gone. The police can't find his body, and the last scene shows him on the shores of an island, with (presumably) his wife and daughter dancing in the background.
   This is not only stupid, it is downright dangerous. The abducting and murderous esoteric was right. Nobody would listen, he was the only one who knew the truth, he was completely alone, he murdered his family, and he was right.
   
   This is not a message the world needs. 3 years 4 months ago

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