Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

You've rarely seen a movie like Jerzy Skolimowski's "Essential Killing". Vincent Gallo (of "Buffalo '66") plays an escaped POW from Afghanistan who roams the European countryside in midwinter hoping to be able to survive in this unfamiliar setting. The absence of dialogue - except for a few lines - gives the film an especially surreal feel. There's no particular political message. The message is: when you're on your own, you'd better have your wits about you.This is the first Skolimowski movie that I've seen. I'm impressed. I hope to be able to see more of his movies. In the mean time, I recommend this one.Also starring Emmanuelle Seigner (Roman Polanski's wife).

Taken to an unspecified European country for interrogation after killing three US soldiers, an unnamed terrorist tries to survive after fleeing capture in this unconventional thriller starring Vincent Gallo. It is not an easy to film to watch, and much of what Gallo gets up to (especially with a mother with a baby) may make one feel queasy, but Jerzy Skolimowski's approach in directing the material is refreshingly unique. His protagonist is thoroughly dislikeable at face value: possibly a member of the Taliban and mercilessly killing many along the way. As the title alludes to though, all of his killings are essential, at least in his eyes, and it is hard not to feel for his desperation, heinous as his actions may be. The choice to shoot with minimal dialogue (Gallo never once speaks) and no specific locations works well too as the film gets down to the essence of what it means to survive and live in the heat of the moment, politics aside. Interesting as all this might sound, 'Essential Killing' nevertheless ends on a sadly inconclusive note. The final section of the film (in which second-billed Emmanuelle Seigner finally appears) comes off as extremely implausible too. The benefit of all those flashbacks is likewise debatable since the less we know about Gallo, the more fascinating he is. If flawed, 'Essential Killing' remains daringly different though to the point that it is a hard film not to recommend. The picturesque yet hostile deserted locations, the frequently mobile cinematography and Pawel Mykietyn's eerie score all combine to make a difficult yet hard-to-forget experience.

I don't agree that this film is a total waste of time nor would I urge a friend to watch it. It certainly has merits and can't be slated for lack of dialogue - the protagonist does not speak or understand the language in the land in which he finds himself! It seems that some reviewers think that he should be speaking to himself (perhaps as a kind of narrator) which would in my view diminish the impact of the audio that is present. I confess that Gallo is not my favourite actor - there is something about his overplayed anguish or emotional vacancy (in other work) that irritates and in my opinion borders on self-indulgent. But in saying that I would always watch a V. Gallo movie for their content but wish that he would dominate less. But in this particular movie, his character is central and leads us through some beautiful and unforgiving terrain and of course plenty of 'essential killing'. I guess whether or not we view it as 'essential' rests upon whether we find the main character sympathetic or not and this (despite all the holes in the telling, pointed out in other reviews) is where I run out of interest. I never cared enough to invest in this character, not even a little, so was removed from any outcome for him or the peripheral others he encountered. I was more interested in the visuals of this movie and the audioscape, which were at times alarming but always engaging.

Really bad movie with no narrative. No ending. It's a run away movie and it's just goes on and on with the same idea and it gets obnoxious and boring! Furthermore, The text writing has no sophistication at all.Don't waste your time and your money. I really don't understand how come the movie won 5 prizes in movie festival. The only thing I was satisfied with in the movie was the nature surrounding camera shooting which was magnificent. But still, the hero just wanders around in nature all along with no words coming from his mouth and the story just goes no where. In conclusion, the film was a waste of time and money and I believe you all will find a better violent and sophisticated movie to go to.