Victim of Love (2019) User Reviews

"The highest heaven is the reddest region of all,to be a victim of love is true hell. Down into the darkness you fall."

[morrison-dylan-fan · 7/10 · 9 November 2020]

Getting set for a marathon day of viewings at the Cine-Excess online festival,I decided to read the plot details for the upcoming streams. A big fan of Nordic Noir, I was intrigued to learn of a mystery Horror/Thriller from Denmark being in the line-up,leading to me investigating the victim of love.

View on the film:

Entering the hotel where Amy and Charly stayed with the "Loner searches for missing woman" Nordic Noir staple, the screenplay by co-writer/(with Sonny Lahey) director/editor Jesper Isaksen crunch the stapler into a visceral odyssey of Charly's red-mist obsession.

Biting into all the detail's of Amy's life which she had kept hidden from Charly, (played by a excellent,on-edge Rudi Kohnke) the writers twist the knife on each former associate of Amy's revelation over where she might have disappeared to, deepening the wounded masculinity of Charly, who lunges out at those who are stripping his thin-layer of obsession mind-set, and unveiling his red raw anger for all to see.

Glimpsing in the opening credits a partially obscured object which will become fully visible for the final sting, director Isaksen & cinematographer Mathias Tegtmeier pin open the soul of Charly with a brooding atmosphere from rugged long panning shots entering the belly of the beast to Amy's past, moving upwards to lens flare casts wide clouding Charly's awareness of the differences between reality and his blood-dripping nightmares, as he looks in the mirror and finds that he might as well face it, he's addicted to love.

Phantasmagorical nightmare

[moviefansme · 4/10 · 27 February 2021]

Phantasmagorical nightmare? That seems to be an excuse for very little to happen and for nothing to make sense. The incompetent investigation goes nowhere and this movie goes with it. The story finally picks up in the third act, but too little too late. The explanation for the mystery is all too obvious. And then it doesn't know how to end and goes out with a whimper.

Victim of Nothing.

[ocosis · 4/10 · 30 December 2021]

This was a big hot nothing. A guy is searching for his missing girlfriend, centred around Denmark's red light district. Or is he? Because the movie really goes nowhere, slowly. The main character just drinks and takes drugs and wallows around in a drugged paranoia. A woman he meets in a bar (Siff Andersson) befriends him and adds some light. But the conclusion, like the film, is just kind of nothing. A nice looking, often violent and stylised nothing.

Really good indie horror/thriller paranoid movie

[blondyboy-76345 · 8/10 · 26 December 2020]

Watched it at BeAfraidHorrorFestival and was one of my fav of the festival. This movie is a slow burning mistery, creepy, druggy, atmospheric horror flick that mix a lot of generes behind cool lights, good actors and nice camera shots. The story (about this cool guy alone in a Hotel, not working and just doing drugs and looking for his disappeared girlfriend) is interesting and metaphorical. There is some Giallo and some Polanksi, but everything moves in this slowmotion Techno loop of day and night and You don't know if You are following the mainplot or just lost in this story like the character, full of cocaine running from a past that have to be discovered. The GothGirl is LOVELY, cool dresses, fetish leather and funny and deep dialogues. Good ending but the best part is the atmosphere in my opinion, due to good actors, good direction, good lights and super good sounds. Don't miss this.

Beautiful!

[nsi-79367 · 10/10 · 6 December 2020]

Beautiful, disturbing, artistic, atmospheric, colorfull & dark, nasty and visually unique.

What a great and different experience!

a-must-see

Strong visual experience

[Anettisa · 8/10 · 30 July 2021]

During Victim of Love you follow the dark and exiting journey of the film's main character, Charly, played brilliantly by Danish actor Rudi Køhnke. The journey is more psychologically than physical even though some grueling scenes take place. Also, Julian Winding (The Neon Demon, Too Old To Die Young) has delivered a bone-crushing track released as a separate single. It's a low-budget horror-thriller, but beautiful and with a matching thick and crunchy sound design. A better story combined with a bigger budget and the director's sense of visually mind bending scenes could give promise to an even better film in the future.

A disturbing character study

[mrbumblebee · 8/10 · 14 April 2021]

Victim of Love is definitely a slow burner to a certain degree, though picking up the pace in the last third of the movie, where the story makes sense. Slow burners are not for everyone and mood, tone and feel becomes very important, which this film luckily have a lot of. Great sound design and intriguing music along with some hefty grading using deep colors to create a haunting look. It's definitely a beautiful film in spite of the low budget.

The story is quite weak but try not to look at the film as a "whodunit type film", but more as a character study of a deeply disturbed man going roque, that will create a different perspective on the experience. In fact, I think they should change the pitch all together as it can come off a bit misleading for some viewers.

I must highlight Rudi Køhnke's performance, which is quite stunning. It's not an easy role to pull off, but Køhnke really nails the ambiguity and duality of "Charly" - a very dangerous individual for sure. His fling "Felicia" played by Siff Andersson also did a good job playing a sexy and restless kinda goth chick.

Not a perfect film, but a nice little thriller gem that with the low budget in mind is indeed very acceptable as a debut feature film. Looking forward to seeing what's in store if Isaksen is able to work on the storytelling and given a significant higher budget to work with.

Great film

[mikesteinheiser · 10/10 · 6 December 2020]

Caught victim of love during the nightmares masquerade film fest in oct and thought it was great. Beautifuly shot and very well acted. Looking forward to a physical release and a second watch.

Psychological drama about delving into one's innermost soul and emotions in search of the hard truth.

[PalleTH · 10/10 · 24 July 2021]

This beautifully photographed film shows a challenging search for the truth about what happened to Charly's American girlfriend Amy. Primarily, the protagonist battles his hidden side buried deep in his inner universe and psyche. You experience his personal deroute and mental turbulence due to his duality that threatens to tear him apart. During the film he enters a neon-soaked nightmare and unexpected action unfolds in a mix of reality and fantasy. A film that must be seen several times before you decode all the layers involved and completely reach the director Jesper Isaksen's message and many symbolic expressions. The acting performances as well as the scenery and the soundscape/music creates a film that is both dramatic and an artistic film experience. A film where insights into the human psyche and imbalance creates surprises and a strange coherence from start to finish. Excellent - see it several times.