User reviews

I was interested in this film as soon as I read about it because you don't see that often that the topic of games is incorporated in a serious film with relevant issues. I was interested in how they would blend in images of the game world and the real one. It turned out fine, the movie is beautifully shot.

From the beginning on, the film makes you believe it's going to end in a predictable way but it had a good surprise ending. Of note are the well thought out monologues of Ben X, using very little words to express what he feels (something he cannot do towards others).

The movie also kept it's integrity in showing how most autistic people would probably be towards girls: mostly invisible. Although Scarlite plays an important role in the film, she's mostly in Ben's mind. Ben is also not spared when the cruelties committed against him are revealed. There was definitely a statement in the film without handing out a clear solution.

On a side note: personally I think autistic people should be able go to special schools. They are in some ways very gifted and smart and should be cherished that way rather than treated as people with a problem that should constantly struggle to adapt.

Back to the film: all in all it delivered all you could want from director Nic Balthazar who I only knew as host of TV show Filmfan and I knew it would have integrity because he is clearly an honest and personable guy.

There's also a lot of nice extra's on the DVD including the game Archlord itself, overall a well thought out, complete film package!

I watched this movie at the Festival in Montréal. I enjoyed it a lot. Some people really hated it. It's great to see a movie like this coming from Europe. The soundtrack was excellent and the acting by Greg Timmermans was superb. The Movie asks many important questions about our time and what it means to be caught in two "realities".

The director knows how to pull off an intense portrayal of a life between reality and fantasy. The visual effects were a bit unconvincing at times but I accepted that because the storyline kept me interested.

The movie won the big prize in Montréal, so I'll look out for this director in the future.

7 out of 10

I thought that Ben X was an excellent film to watch. Ben is very different. He has Aspergers Syndrome, a form of autism, which makes him very different from other people. He plays his favourite online computer game Archlord all of the time, trying hard to train himself for the real world that he lives in. The hard world of a school is for him a daily kind of hell. As the horror of being a daily subject to bullying starts to get worse, Ben works out a plan. Then a girl called Scarlite comes into his life, the girl that he has met in his on-line game. I found this film to be an excellent movie, that includes a lot a senses of bullying, and violence towards Ben from the other children in his class. Recommended..

This film goes very deeply into the problems that Children with the form of Autism know as Aspergers syndrome. The film uses glimpses of what seems to be a future interview with many of the characters to build a suspenseful atmosphere thru the whole film. The use of flashbacks thru out the film to explain Bens early childhood are extremely effective in conveying the listlessness that is felt by parents and children as they try and find out why their child is different. I will leave it to others to provide a plot summery but I will tell you something of the experience of the screening at the Montreal World Film Festival. Both the director Nic Balthazar and the actor who played Ben, Greg Timmermans addressed the crowd that night before the beginning of the film. Nic Balthazar spoke to the crowd in fluent French and English himself with no translator, leading to a booming applause as he talked of his joy at being at the festival and of working with Greg on his first film. Greg Timmermans then went ahead and spoke to us in passable French and English and talked of how nervous he was on that night. This is Greg Timmermans first film and he preformed beyond beautifully, bring subtlety to his role rarely seen by seasoned actors let alone a brand new face. This is not to diminish the other actors and actresses all of whom preformed extraordinary well. I hope that this film recedes world wide distribution for it is one of the most pointed comments I've ever seen or heard of on the treatment that children with these types of differences receive from classmates, teachers, and parents. Though I say this the teachers while sometimes seeming exasperated and at a loss for what to do, were never cruel, intentionally or otherwise. This film ranked as the best film that I was able to see in my short time at the festival. Lastly I would like to say that as the credits began to roll the audience roared forth with applause that did not cease completely for a full 3-5 minutes.

I left this film with my tears proudly displayed on my cheeks.

Good luck in competition to the cast and crew of BenX. May you see wide spread distribution and happy lives. You have touched my heart.

This is truly one of the most, if not the most, beautiful films I have ever seen. It just happened to be on TV and since it was an unknown title for me, the least I can say is that it totally surprised me.

Never in my life have I cared so much about a character in a movie, Greg Timmermans made me forget that I was watching one. Ben X made me angry at times, sometimes it made me smile, but many times it brought teares to my eyes. No that's not true, I'll admit it, I cried like a baby, and that's not something I do on a regular basis.

Although it's spoken in Dutch(luckily my own language), I still hope it will reach people through out the world, so that many can enjoy it, and learn the lesson that's been given here.

Everybody, if you can find it, watch it and it will move you.

This movie really has it all: it touches the audience in a way that is never transparent but always smart and subtle. A beautiful story that leaves you breathless. It gives a clear image about how people really react to other persons who don't fit in, without trying to impress the audience with unrealistic dialogues. Especially the ending gives a very important message to all of us. I really think that the only goal of Nic Balthazar honestly was: to give that message, nothing less, nothing more. One of the best Belgian movies I have seen, although I'm afraid that through translation it will lose much of its charm, just because the lines are so perfect sometimes!

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

With the film adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time seemingly abandoned, it seemed that Rain Man was the closest I would get to seeing a film about someone with Asperger's Syndrome, the condition I've admitted to having. But out of nowhere, along comes this offering from the Netherlands (with characters speaking in what surely sounds like German!), which has gained some acclaim but seems unlikely to become anything more than a cult offering. It's essentially just your typical boy-getting-bullied-at-school drama, with a talking heads docu-drama feel thrown in along with some effectively unpleasant scenes of bullying (including forcing an ecstasy tablet down the victim's throat in the end to blot it out) as well as clever touches as using the boy's obsession with online video games to compliment fighting with his enemies in real life. It's a string of original touches strung together to make one film, and while it doesn't fit together perfectly as a film, it's certainly great that an effort like this is bringing the condition so upfront in people's faces. ***

I saw this movie yesterday at a movie theater in Leuven. Nic Balthazar came to this theater to answer some questions afterwards. This movie gets to you from the beginning till the end. Nic Balthazar created a jewel that will shine for long. He makes me longing for more. Very nice work! I'm not willing to tell something about the plot of the movie, because you can never catch the atmosphere this movie has. I am very glad that I speak Dutch, because I am afraid that a lot of the nice lyrics that are spoken in this movie can not be translated as brilliant as spoken... Although I don't think this will be a large problem, this movie has it all, action, romance... It does go straight to the heart. I still don't understand how a debut can be this close to perfection. It is "must see" for everyone!

This movie is so underrated! I felt all emotions in this movie. In 3 or 4 scene, I cried like a baby.

Yesterday evening (20/09), I went to an avant premiere of Ben X. The cast (Greg Timmermans, Marijke Pinoy and Laura Verlinden) and director Nic Balthazar were also there and gave a short explanation about the movie and their experience making it.

I had multiple reasons to go see this film, First of all, I like the idea of using the gaming community (which is so common among us youngsters these days ) to illustrate ones need to escape the real world and enter their own. Secondly, I was curious about the performance of Greg Timmermans as Ben. I didn't know it was his first movie until he himself said it, moments before it began. And finally, the movie became very famous when winning at the World Filmfestival in Montreal.

Let me just say that this movie deserves every praise it got and will get. From beginning until end, you are moved by the world of Ben. His relation to his parents, "friends" , and the world itself.

He explains his feelings through his Gaming alter ego BenX in the game ArchLord, why he is who he is.

Everyone was touched, seeing this movie and we gave it a standing ovation during the credits.

So go see this movie if you can, it's definitely worth it and you won't be disappointed.

Greetings Rafke

P.S. : You don't have to be a "gamer" of just know a lot about gaming to understand this movie... everything is explained.

Ben is a quiet introvert who spends all his spare time in a virtual reality game. He is socially awkward with Asperger and tries to compensate with strategies from the games. He gets bullied at school with one particularly bad incident. While some pity him, his only true friend is another online gamer named Scarlite. They are to meet in real life but Ben lacks the courage to talk to her. Just as he's about to commit suicide, Scarlite pulls him from jumping in front of a train. They decide to go on a quest with help from their parents.

I really like the way the movie tries to bring Asperger point of view to the audience. The first half of the movie is great. It's a little unlikely that the online heroine turns out to look like Laura Verlinden but I'm willing to buy it for the movie. The quest is building up to something great but it turns into something silly. It's somewhat passive aggressive and the ending leaves me feeling emotionally cheated.

Movies about characters with disabilities usually focus on how the personal deficiencies were overcome, with everyone, especially the audience, feeling good in the end. This is not that kind of movie. Ben, the central character, is an autistic high school student subjected to repeated excruciating torments by his classmates. Everyday in school he gets slapped and pushed around while he cowers helplessly. Later he is subjected to a most traumatic assault by two of the meaner classmates, one cruel asault shown in the internet as a crowd of students cheer and jeer. Ben's divorced parents and the school authorities seem as helpless as Ben. As this goes on without respite I felt that Director Balthazar, (who wrote and directed this from his own novel), enjoyed Ben's suffering as much as his sadistic classmates. Somewhere along the movie I became convinced that Balthazar is submitting his own entry into the Torture Film Genre (Michael Haneke's "Funny Games" ('97), Mel Gibson's "The Passion of Christ"). Ben's consolation is playing his sword-and-sandal superhero video game, Archlord. This is used to tease the audience that at a certain point Ben will emulate his hero and fight back. He can never get himself to do it however. The only thing in that video game fantasy that becomes his salvation is the appearance of a young woman, Scarlite, who gives him the courage to act on his solution -- to die. It is this act that Balthazar uses to end the movie supposedly to shame Ben's tormentors and all the school authorities, into remorse over everything done to Ben. This retaliation that Balthazar cooked up, that these young brutes and thugs, these indifferent, uncaring and indifferent adults, can supposedly be shamed, I find not only naive but phony, artistically inane and dishonest. After showing us throughout the movie a group of irreparably thuggish youths and indifferent uncaring adults, Balthazar wants us to think that these people can be shamed into remorse and reforming. Balthazar's whole point seems to be that the only refuge the emotionally and mentally handicap can find is in the fantasy of video games, that the real world will always be cruel, even to the point of turning video -- the only world he can escape to -- into yet another torment. Balthazar probably forgot that the film world is bursting to its seams with Christ metaphors and Christ themes have long been exhausted, and any new attempt is artificial and shallow. Timmermans' performance, even if he looks older to be a high school student, is highly commendable. Ben's absorbing fear of the world outside his room and his video screen is perfectly encapsulated in the way he coils unto himself, the way he walks as though anticipating to fall or sink as he takes his next step, the contortions on his face as he walks through the gauntlet of students. The repeated shots from above when Ben gets out of his house looking like a creature coming out of a hole in the ground is a haunting image, implying his being not of this world. This is a well-photographed movie with a good script, very well acted by all, especially Timmermans and Verlinden, but the treatment of a disabled life really stinks.Tito Alquizola ##

I saw this movie today, and it was really great. Even if you don't speak Dutch you should see this movie. Brilliantly acted by Greg Timmermans. I was almost beginning to think he wasn't acting at all, but more being himself :-) because it's almost too good. Well, one little thing, I was able to predict the outcome of the movie before it was over, but then again, maybe not everyone will. Overall, great movie, everyone all over the world should see this one and maybe everyone should start to think a bit like Ben X. He might be and think weird,... but he IS right. I was really touched by this movie and by the way of Ben's thinking. I think it deserves 10/10!

For me, it was probably the best movie I've seen about bullying and adapting to modern society when you don't fit the mold, when you're not particularly socially adept. It's not just about autism, everybody should see this, particularly those who have been ostracized in school for whatever reason, especially gaming geeks. Mostly because of the incredible performance by the lead actor (but also because of how well it was filmed), I totally felt and rooted for him. I quite enjoyed the gaming background of Ben although it didn't feel completely believable. No one with a gaming character would just stand there without fighting back. In my book, it's a must-see if you can find it.

9 out of 10.

It's a good movie, I just expected so much much more because of all the media and stuff. I was not really impressed, there was some good acting involved, but indeed the character that plays Ben was too old to be Ben. And some things didn't feel right and didn't even fit in. But you should go and see for yourselves. I liked the idea though, a gamers world included in a movie, got us some beautiful images. You sure feel like you're about to start a game when you "enter" the movie. And Archlord has some great graphics, not the best, but it all looks very nice in this movie. Nothing like I've seen before in a movie! that caught my attention! So go on, and check it out.

I have to admit I had my doubts about the content of this movie when I started watching. Especially since the DVD cover gave me the impression that a lot of the movie would be about online gaming. Thank God this wasn't true.

It has been a long time since I've seen a movie that's this good

The movie brings forth a quite realistic view of school youth and their cruelty. Secondly, it also represents the world of a bully victim quite vividly. I can say this first hand. To complete this masterpiece it adds a very interesting twist in the end.

Well worth watching. Captivating from the beginning to the end. In my personal opinion every school should show this to their classroom at some point.