The Treatment

The Treatment
The Treatment

Format: DVD + Blu-ray

Release date: 14 September 2015

Distributor: Saffron Hill

Director: Hans Herbots

Writer: Carl Joos

Based on the novel by: Mo Hayder

Cast: Geert van Rampbelberg, Ina Geerts, Johan van Assche

Original title: Mo Hayder

Belgium 2014

131 mins

Detective Nick Cafmeyer (Geert van Rampelberg) is a haunted man: when he was nine, his younger brother disappeared, never to be found again. Although convicted local paedophile Plettinckx was arrested on suspicion, his guilt was never proven.

As though it weren’t bad enough that upon release Plettinckx moved near Nick and spends his days harassing him with letters and tasteless pranks, a new case emerges that Nick can’t ignore. There’s a killer targeting families on the loose: taking the parents hostage, murdering them, kidnapping the children, sexually abusing them and ultimately killing them. Now Nick has to use all his skills, know-how and experience in figuring out what motivates this monstrous killer before there are any more victims, and perhaps lay his own ghosts to rest along the way.

Hans Herbots’s adaptation of Mo Hayder’s novel might, at first glance, seem like a typical neo-noir in the line of The Killing and The Bridge: with a haunted central figure, a notorious criminal and a general, pervading sense of darkness, the film has similarities with many of its Nordic predecessors.

However it is the director’s ability to elevate the material beyond its pulp novel origins that makes The Treatment unique: supported by strong performances from a terrific cast across the board, the film’s relentless confrontation of a very difficult subject turns it into a careful study of obsession and forgiveness, underlined by compelling social comment.

Haunting, frightening and essential, this is the sort of film that only comes along once in a blue moon, shakes you to your core and stays with you for days to come: proving the power of the crime genre, it is a visually stunning masterpiece that is impossible to forget.

Evrim Ersoy

Watch the trailer:

Mondo Trasho

As part of our focus on John Waters, we take a look at his first feature, shot in 1969 and the first to star Divine in a lead role. Mondo Trasho screens at BFI Southbank on 4 and 9 September 2015.

Enjoy a 2-4-1 ticket offer on all events in the BFI’s John Waters season by simply quoting Waters241 online, in person or over the phone 020 7928 3232. For full programme info and to book tickets online, visit the BFI website

Mondo01_edit Mondo02_edit
Mondo03_edit
Comic Strip Review by Douglas Noble
More information on Douglas Noble can be found on douglasnoble.com.