I gave it 2/10 only because I abhor what this movie stands for, and yet it is still, this reviewer must reluctantly admit, in some ways a masterpiece. If the subject matter is psychopathic depravity and that's really what interests you, then this is the movie they made for you; while you're awaiting dinner in whatever secure institution you find yourself in, as you read this.
The movie is, in exposing just how sick in the heads a few people can be, quite brilliant. Unfortunately, the purpose of movies, as far as I am concerned, is sometimes to challenge one's views, and mostly to engage and entertain. This movie is utterly, utterly repulsive and at the same time it is, again, dare I admit: borne of a certain twisted genius.
It will always have a low rating solely because (even slightly) normal people (of which I am still thankfully one) will find this movie to be unquestionably vile & disgusting. Trust me, I need give nothing away, but you will find this movie to be premised upon a most sickeningly depraved dystopian nightmare, which just happens mostly to be set in an urban apartment block, where George is the caretaker anti-hero (to put it mildly).
This is also the movie which proves why you shouldn't take lifts with strangers, because a few people in this world, whom you'd do well to avoid, have extremely disturbed minds.
Those who can stomach the most repulsively dark elements of depraved abnormality may well love this movie. However, most people (and that includes most clever people too) will be unable to watch much of it without wanting to turn it off, in disgust. It's a shame that the writer, actors, director and admittedly the whole team behind this movie will ultimately not be rewarded for what they've accomplished. But that's not to say I feel sorry for them: if commercial success was what they thought would come from this movie, then they should have realised that in this world, even a movie which is meant to appeal to an arty audience must at least not want to swamp its audience in the most repeatedly vile visions of depravity in the name of entertainment, otherwise it will be doomed to fail as a commercial venture, no matter how clever was the screenplay, acting etc. Needless to say, this movie will fail, not because it lacked a sense of depraved genius, but because in the real world, very few people would find what happens in this movie to be that which they'd look forward to seeing, after a hard day at the office.
Come to think of it, this is the kind of movie which in the 'good old days' never even saw general release. "I spit on your grave" is a picnic in the park with a few nettle stings, compared to this movie!
Anyway, it is much as I hate to say it, a 9/10 if you're either a very depraved person, or you are very interested in psychopathy. For everyone else, that is to say, if you are even slightly normal/sensitive in your disposition, it's a 2/10.
