Ben X

This Flemish film was great!! A nice surprise. It's about a hypersensitive genius boy who gets teased relentlessly because he can't interact socially. He has some great insight into human nature as he tries to copy their expression of emotion because he can't feel the emotions himself. He thinks that he has to fake being human and you identify with him because he does point out the absurdities of human behavior, their insecurities and fight for power by belittling others, without being a part of it. His bullying scenes go a little far, I mean we get how bad it is pretty quick, we don't need another 20 minute sequence of torture, but at least during that scene we know about the girl coming to visit him the next day so we have that hope to cling to (like Ben does) during this whole scene. Oh, he does interact normally with people online, in his World of Warcraft like game, and he has a girl that is his healer and plans to come meet him in person. The tension of him finally meeting up with her is great and although he never actually speaks to her, you still feel like he has made some sort of personal triumph. Although you want them to be together, the end almost seems better in a way. He always has her in his imagination and she will never hurt him or embarrass him or leave him like the other kids. Because Ben is the way he is and his fantasy in his head is more real for him than the real world, we accept this as his best possible ending. She does end up saving him without ever actually speaking to him, and this is enough.

The best part about this film was the set-up for Ben's death. The whole film was very subtle about how it prepared you for the idea that Ben would die. Occasionally we see interview style shots cut-in with people from his school, his mom, etc. answering questions like they would a news program. From these we get the early idea that they might be coming from a post-suicide interview and we start to feel smart because we think we have figured out where the film is going. When the suicide did happen you felt prepared and I even thought for a second that maybe where he has gone is better for him than this earth, which just wasn't meant for this kid. And then when he re-emerges and we realize that the "suicide" was all a ploy to get the kids to realize the consequences of their bullying, it was just a fantastic twist. I cheered. He still lives in his own head, with his imaginary girlfriend, but like his mom says at the end, it is ok because he is living. This was a charming film that really makes you think about why people do what they do. It also had two unconventional resolutions with the fake suicide and the girl, both of which were set-up but payed-off differently than you expected, in a way that was still a satisfying surprise for the viewer.

Oh, I also really enjoyed how it intercut the beginning of the film together with the game. It highlighted perfectly the reason people escape into worlds like Warcraft, because they can escape who they are and their own physical limits and construct themselves as anyone they want to be.