This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Blistering performances.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

To be quite honest, I am not sure how I discovered this movie exactly. I was just searching about and found this despite not knowing a single actor, or anyone involved. Still, the trailer made it seem very interesting so I decided to give it a chance.The focus of the movie is one Simon (played by Brady Corbet) who just lost his girlfriend of 5 years, graduated college with a degree in neuroscience, and seemingly is having trouble letting go. However, with the help of a young prostitute Noura (played by Mati Diop) who fits Hollywood's vision of a Julia Robert's Pretty Woman styled sex worker with good lucks and a heart of gold, and a young college student named Marianne (played by Constance Rousseau) who is as sweet as Noura, but without the emotional baggage and sex worker profession, you foresee a turnaround for this heartbroken boy. But then you discover, slowly but surely, why after 5 years his girlfriend from High School decided to call it quits.The way the story is setup, for the first 40 minutes we are shown a Simon which is a pitiful young man who makes you slightly uneasy, but with how heartbroken he is you want to give him a chance as a lead. But, once those first 40, or so, minutes are over and we meet Noura, under the name Victoria originally, things pick up. From there Simon finds a way, conveniently, to get nestled into Noura's naive little heart. Then comes in Marianne and with her introduction, we see Simon for what he really is: the type of character which reminds you why women must be careful of the men they interact with.In a way though, there lies the appeal of the movie. For most of the movie you are presented a superficial version of Simon that would be no different from a guy you met in class or know at work. You see him sobbing and pitiful to the point you can almost see him as the victim, but as you get to know him you see this isn't fully true. Also, something I liked about this movie, was the character of Noura. Now, Noura isn't drawn much differently from most women who are sex workers since she has a troubled past and does sex work for independence, but what is likable about it is she doesn't feel like a victim. She frankly calls what she does work, just like you would call going to an office and being on a computer 7 or so hours a day work. It sort of put a rarely seen spin on sex workers for often they focus so much on their past issues that it seems you could blame an abusive ex or parent for everything as if perhaps they forced them to get into their profession. With Noura though, it seemed she chose it for she has worked doing other things, but perhaps it didn't pay enough to be independent.But, as much as I like certain elements of the film, it does have one major pitfall and a few others sprinkled in. Focusing on the minor ones first, there is an issue, to me, in the movie when they decide to let a scene go on too long. For example, there is one shot of just a guy's face as Simon is in the process of blackmailing him, and we focus on him thinking in silence for 3-4 minutes. Also, there is a dance scene where Marianne and Simon are dancing, and you wonder why is it there, much less, why so long? Before that scene, they already establish something is going on between them, so why are we watching them dance for 5 minutes with their dialog muted and only the music being heard? The biggest pitfall of the film, by far, are those first 40 minutes. Watching Simon mope around Paris, seem socially maladjusted, and talk about, or to, Michelle really makes you want to stop watching the movie for it just drags on too long. And even when it thankfully decides that it needs to show us more than him moping and masturbating, they switch it with what could have been a compelling story, which just sort of turns into decently written soft-core porn. Overall: On the Fence (Leaning Toward Skip It)While the film has elements I usually appreciate in a movie like romantic drama, violence and character evolution, though not necessarily all in one movie, this comes at the price of spending 40 minutes waiting for that all to happen. Then, once it does, it seems like it only does so because it realizes it needs a story and it feels like it was written so no one could really outshine Corbet, who is one of the writers for this film. With that, the characters of Noura and Marianne feel like they get stunted while Corbet continues to try to dominate the film. Making it so, overall, you feel like with some editing it could be good but, as is, the film is just a mess.

Within its first 5 minutes I could already sense that I was about to watch a masterful movie. For this is a most brilliant study of, and glimpse into, the life of a sociopath. At times, it is so 'fly on the wall', and so brilliantly acted, that I almost had to remind myself that this was fiction I was witnessing.It's written and directed by Antonio Campos, who is admittedly not so well known as a screenwriter, having written only one other feature length movie back in 2008; A fact which is moreover, and to my belief, a tragedy for Campos - because he has most certainly proved himself with this movie, to be an exceptional screenwriter. Simon Killer is, in other words, extremely underrated. Nonetheless, as for its direction, production, acting, screenplay and musical score - all come together in an all too rare, & near perfect, unison.But why is it underrated? Basically, people cannot and just won't 'like' this movie, precisely because sociopaths are nasty people who callously make the lives of everyone they contact, worse for knowing them. Accordingly, watching a movie about such a person, even one that is as interesting and accurate as Simon Killer, is not therefore a fun or enjoyable experience for any typical audience - at least in the sense that 'enjoyable' should bring a smile onto one's face. For this movie won't endear smiles at any point.Whereas DeNero's studied psychopath, in Taxi Driver, occasionally brought a wry smile to one's face, and was popularly received as a bit of a misunderstood 'anti-hero', Brady Corbet's Simon is not only always engaging as a character study, but he's always, also, all too steely manipulating, and disgustingly self absorbed. Frankly, of the many movies I've seen, I can think of no other movie, before this, which so realistically portrays how a sociopath engages with other people who pass through his life. And, as such, I cannot recommend this movie highly enough, particularly for those of you, who are analytically minded enough, so as to appreciate its utter brilliance. Again, I'm not promising that anyone will, or could possibly 'like' this movie. Rather, I believe a minority of others will deeply appreciate its very excellence.

"Superficial charm and average intelligence. Untruthfulness and insincerity. Poor judgment and failure to learn from experience." All the attributes of a psychopath are handled brilliantly by Antonio Campos and executed flawlessly by Brady Corbet. This film has been on my mind for a few days as I remember the edgy scenes with actors half off the screen and my wishing I could just nudge the camera a little bit to see what's going on... although it would not have mattered. The story here is powerful and tells a tale of a manipulative and mentally unbalanced character, but that's not really why I liked the film so much. What blew my mind is the visual treatment, the blasts of audio, the unforgiving sex and the feeling I was looking at an accident I could not turn away from. Lots of similarity to the films of Haneke and Dumont but taken to the next level with an uncompromising cellphone video sensitivity.

'Simon Killer' is about a young American who goes to Paris following the failure of his relationship with his girlfriend - the very heavy implication being the break-up was his fault. He quickly inveigles his way into the life of a young prostitute, before taking up with a classier girl. Quite how he manages to get so much feminine action is beyond me - grubby, and festooned with the facial scurf so many young men go in for nowadays, he's a sorry-looking article - he gives the impression he doesn't wipe properly, y'know? And that's before you get to his being really intense and creepy. Worth watching once, but I doubt I'll try to see it again.