A Brilliant Conflict

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Surgeon Bruno Hamel lives an ordinary suburban life with his wife and daughter Jasmine. Jasmine goes missing and then found brutally raped and murdered. Anthony Lemaire is arrested with undeniable evidence. Bruno drugs the prison transport driver and kidnaps Lemaire. He promises police detective Mercure that he will kill Lemaire in 7 days on Jasmine's birthday. Mercure himself had lost his wife in a convenient store shooting.There is a quiet brutality about torture but the characters are a little too quiet about it. His inner conflict actually bugged me a little. The villain is an absolute villain. If there is more doubt, it would have made Bruno's hesitation more understandable. I like the other mother character. Overall, the movie has very little tension and it could have been more intense with a few changes.

I suppose we all have had a moment when we read a story of brutality, the rape or murder of someone done in an excruciatingly violent way by someone who has no remorse. That's what happens here and the ugliness it brings to the parents of the little girl would get anyone's hackles up. So this director contrives such a situation and then goes into the "what if" mode. What follows is about as ugly as anything I've ever seen on film. The rest of the movie is about the brutalizing of the killer. It's not just that he is tortured, but we are invited in to watch his torture in graphic detail. Because the torture is mostly physical, there is nothing redemptive about it. The father becomes robot-like in his daily devotions to the art of vengeance. He ignores what he is doing to his family and becomes an automaton. He creates machines and devices that inflict horrors. I really don't want to spend any time with someone who would enjoy watching this and the fact that it was popular makes me wonder what we are made of. I'm not averse to severe punishment for criminals, but this is beyond the pale.

How could it possible the parents would allow their underage young daughter to walk out alone to pass around her invitations. Both of the parents, especially the mom, got nothing to do in that specific morning, even the surgeon father was just off a major surgery from the hospital, but still.... Under any normal condition or premise, the girl's mom should accompany her to send out the invitations, that's a common duty of a mother with a elementary school daughter. Then again, we didn't see the daughter leave home with her school backpack or whatever, but then a boy in the same class and same school, returned her satchel to her parents, claiming she didn't attend the school. This two incidents were obviously an unexplainable overlook or careless draft of the screenplay that could and should be corrected by the director from the very beginning. But if without these two stupid arrangements, then the storyline of the scenario simply could be developed to the next level.By the way, the special effect of the torture scenes are grossly superb and stunning.

"Does knowing your wife's murderer is behind bars make life any more bearable?""7 Days" is a powerful and brutal film about a happily married surgeon who as a result of the rape and murder of his daughter falls into a dark obsession with revenge. WARNING: this movie is VERY graphic and not for the easily offended or people with a weak stomach. "7 Days" deals with a very difficult subject matter and does not hold back. Claude Legault (Bruno) and Rémy Girard (Hervé) did an incredible job with the acting. Fanny Mallette (Sylvia) also did wonderfully, though I would have liked to have seen more of her throughout the movie. I found myself wondering why the director did not feature more of the mother's struggle. There is one scene in particular that showcases the raw talent Legault and Mallette have. It was a tour de force of brilliant acting.However, the movie is not without it's faults. One of the more interesting decisions made by the director was to not include a musical soundtrack. This worked I think in favor of the atmosphere but there could have been some fill in music at times. It seemed like the director was trying to fill holes in the story a bit too hard. There were a couple of things that didn't make much sense to do and the ending left a little to be desired."7 Days" may not be the cream of the crop of revenge flicks, but it does succeed where others fail. It is such a harrowing subject matter and is shot in such a realistic way that you are forced to have an emotional response, whether you like it or not. There are some powerful visuals that will stay with you for days, possibly months after.