The movie has some very good acting . It is also very beautifully presented giving it a psychedelic feel in many scenes . It makes a good effort in developing the character. The problem is that it moves very slowly for my taste. The thrill element is also missing. I feel that this may be liked by people who like contemplative style of narration. It makes a good effort of the motivation of the character but provide little logic on why does he do the things he does . Interesting idea to begin with i.e exploring the loneliness , child abuse. Average story . Good acting by main and supporting cast specially the friend who is quite funny. Good direction.
20 Reviews
Underneath troubled surfaces...
paul_haakonsen12 June 2017
When I sat down to watch "Decay", I must admit that I had hoped for a bit more weight on the horror aspect of the movie, since it is labeled as a drama / horror / thriller here on IMDb. So while the lack of horror to the movie was a bit disappointing, I will say that this was more of a thriller than it was a horror movie.
With that being said, don't get me wrong here, as I am not saying that "Decay" is not a good or enjoyable movie. Quite the contrary. It is actually a rather interesting and offbeat movie, one that differentiates itself from so many other movies in the horror genre. And that was a nice change of pace. So the lack of horror elements faded in lieu of the storyline and the drama of the story.
It is a combination of the morbid storyline and the characters in the movie that make "Decay" interesting. In particular the Jonathan character, because he was so odd and unique.
"Decay" is a movie that is driven by a strong and detailed storyline. This storyline has lots of backstory to it and many subtle details which really helps to build the characters and the events in the movie.
While the cast ensemble is relatively sparse in "Decay", there is an additional pressure on the performers in order to carry the movie. And I will say that the actors and actresses they had gotten together for this movie carried the movie quite well. Especially Rob Zabrecky in the role of Jonathan was really outstanding in his performance of this quirky and odd character. And with the traumatic upbringing and troubled childhood that you see glimpses and flashbacks to Jonathans childhood with his abusive mother, no wonder that Jonathan turned into such a troubled man.
The music score of the movie is somewhat offbeat, but it really matches the movie and it compliments the movie quite well. There is some upbeat and almost comical music set against the somber backdrop of the movie, which just heightened the sense of bizarre and absurdity of the story. There is also some very subtle and sort of disturbing music that creeps and settles in the back of your head as you watch the movie.
The effects in "Decay" were actually quite good, taking the premise of the movie into consideration. And the gradual decay of the corpse friend of Jonathan was rather impressive and looked quite realistic. These kinds of attention to detail is always a boost for a movie.
Director Joseph Wartnerchaney makes use of an abundance of visual impressions throughout the movie, by means of glimpses and imagery. Some of these visuals don't always make much sense, so some of what the director was trying to instill with these images was lost in translation.
Now, it should be said that "Decay" might be somewhat slow paced and uneventful for some viewers, depending on what you are expecting from the movie and your preference of movies within the horror genre. I was genuinely entertained by the pacing of the movie as per set up by director and writer Joseph Wartnerchaney.
"Decay" proved to be a different and somewhat interesting movie, although it veered quite far from what I had initially hoped for. But it is still an enjoyable movie and a watchable movie. However, I doubt that this is the type of movie that you will actually watch more than a single time.
With that being said, don't get me wrong here, as I am not saying that "Decay" is not a good or enjoyable movie. Quite the contrary. It is actually a rather interesting and offbeat movie, one that differentiates itself from so many other movies in the horror genre. And that was a nice change of pace. So the lack of horror elements faded in lieu of the storyline and the drama of the story.
It is a combination of the morbid storyline and the characters in the movie that make "Decay" interesting. In particular the Jonathan character, because he was so odd and unique.
"Decay" is a movie that is driven by a strong and detailed storyline. This storyline has lots of backstory to it and many subtle details which really helps to build the characters and the events in the movie.
While the cast ensemble is relatively sparse in "Decay", there is an additional pressure on the performers in order to carry the movie. And I will say that the actors and actresses they had gotten together for this movie carried the movie quite well. Especially Rob Zabrecky in the role of Jonathan was really outstanding in his performance of this quirky and odd character. And with the traumatic upbringing and troubled childhood that you see glimpses and flashbacks to Jonathans childhood with his abusive mother, no wonder that Jonathan turned into such a troubled man.
The music score of the movie is somewhat offbeat, but it really matches the movie and it compliments the movie quite well. There is some upbeat and almost comical music set against the somber backdrop of the movie, which just heightened the sense of bizarre and absurdity of the story. There is also some very subtle and sort of disturbing music that creeps and settles in the back of your head as you watch the movie.
The effects in "Decay" were actually quite good, taking the premise of the movie into consideration. And the gradual decay of the corpse friend of Jonathan was rather impressive and looked quite realistic. These kinds of attention to detail is always a boost for a movie.
Director Joseph Wartnerchaney makes use of an abundance of visual impressions throughout the movie, by means of glimpses and imagery. Some of these visuals don't always make much sense, so some of what the director was trying to instill with these images was lost in translation.
Now, it should be said that "Decay" might be somewhat slow paced and uneventful for some viewers, depending on what you are expecting from the movie and your preference of movies within the horror genre. I was genuinely entertained by the pacing of the movie as per set up by director and writer Joseph Wartnerchaney.
"Decay" proved to be a different and somewhat interesting movie, although it veered quite far from what I had initially hoped for. But it is still an enjoyable movie and a watchable movie. However, I doubt that this is the type of movie that you will actually watch more than a single time.
A deep journey into a broken mind.
Patient44410 April 2016
I was intrigued, and I did enjoy it, Decay is a good movie from my point of view, has a lot to offer, took its time but did not over stretch it and provided a nice ending.
I saw movies like this before, first to come in mind is Love Object from 2003, even better than this one I must admit and some others, with less similarities like Contracted or Thanatomorphose. If you end up enjoying Decay be sure to check out Love Object, which is absolutely superb.
Decay is a good movie, with an interesting approach, a good character development, nicely acted and quite disturbing at times. A strong stomach will be required for the entire ride. But those times don't take too much on the screen so overall you should be OK and safely make it to its end. I loved what I saw here. And I do recommend this one.
Cheers!
I saw movies like this before, first to come in mind is Love Object from 2003, even better than this one I must admit and some others, with less similarities like Contracted or Thanatomorphose. If you end up enjoying Decay be sure to check out Love Object, which is absolutely superb.
Decay is a good movie, with an interesting approach, a good character development, nicely acted and quite disturbing at times. A strong stomach will be required for the entire ride. But those times don't take too much on the screen so overall you should be OK and safely make it to its end. I loved what I saw here. And I do recommend this one.
Cheers!
A movie looking for a genre.....
wildsparrow1627 April 2016
Warning: Spoilers
I like dark movies. I am drawn to them like moths to a flame. But they have to have substance. They either need to be thought provoking, scary, or at the very least, suspenseful.
This was none of the above. It was a drama - not a thriller. If you want jitters, watch "Love Object". This was not scary, nor did it have that campy humor of some dramadies (except for the first five minutes - talk about unlucky women).
He was not creepy - just sad. But not quite enough to be heartbreaking. He was ill, but not frightening, as our beloved Normal Bates and Buffalo Bill were.
I liked the actor - it was just a bad movie. It was also incredibly depressing, just the entire feel of it. Pass. Pass. Pass. (count to 30).
This was none of the above. It was a drama - not a thriller. If you want jitters, watch "Love Object". This was not scary, nor did it have that campy humor of some dramadies (except for the first five minutes - talk about unlucky women).
He was not creepy - just sad. But not quite enough to be heartbreaking. He was ill, but not frightening, as our beloved Normal Bates and Buffalo Bill were.
I liked the actor - it was just a bad movie. It was also incredibly depressing, just the entire feel of it. Pass. Pass. Pass. (count to 30).
There's a thin line between dark horror and utter depressing garbage.
angiris12 April 2016
Warning: Spoilers
You guys know when you sometimes feel like trying something new? Different? Well I felt like that when going to see this. I enjoy some of these dark, crazy horrors from time to time, but this film here had me going beyond depressed within the first 20 minutes.
We got our stereotypical lonely American guy who was raised by a religious nut job of a mother, now mentally damaged and insane.
Haven't we seen this a million times before? Honestly. I'm tired of the Ed Gein story by now.
A girl dies after trespassing in his house as well as her friend who joined her. He decides to keep the body of one because the other ran outside and was hit by a car because she thought he killed her friend, which he didn't.
The story goes downhill from there. I think the big issue here is that there is SO much filler and pointless scenery that doesn't add to his character other than providing us with WTF moments.
You got scenes where this obnoxious 50's music plays whilst he's doing his crazy weird workout and brushing his teeth. This repeats a few times. And overall its stuff like this that just keeps getting to be thrown at us. Pointless filler. Its like 80 % him tending to his flowers, doing his workout in maniac fashion, obnoxious music through the entire thing, us watching him walk around, experience things happen around him.
Just imagine this being a documentary, where you follow a guy in question as you hear his voice talking to us, etc. Now. Imagine the voice is gone and its just the camera, following him around.
There is your movie for about 80 % Seriously, Wartnerchaney. I'm a person who's open to the idea of crazy, disturbing horror. Different horror.
But I'm getting awfully tired of these cheap attempts to tell a the SAME story for the 50000th time in just a tiny different way.
This is the story of Ed Gein all over again, minus the gore. It's that boring.
40 minutes in the film the director finds it appropriate to still shoot the surroundings of the area as well as random terrain. Why? We know where we are. We know whats going on. We're almost at the point of no return and ZERO has been happening other than the girl dying, him doing whatever it is he's doing and her ...you guessed it...DECAYING.
If he killed the girl or something at LEAST we would have a killer on our hands, but he didn't. No. Its just him being crazy lonely so he keeps a dead body in his house.
The weird thing here are all these slow-motion scenes. And endless shocker flashbacks (which aren't shocking at all btw) that keep appearing over and over. to...what? provide us with character depth? Haha. Okay.
So 50 minutes in MORE sporadic, non-sensical scenes pop in. Stuff that makes zero sense but might be symbolically fitting to the director. All this followed by MORE of the same. Watching him ride to work for the 20th time. Sad, depressing music is playing. More scenery shots. His depressing as hell workplace. Total shots of the entire area as he walks around. Doing his pointless, sad job.
"sigh" Wartnerchaney. Telling a story about a broken mind. A crazy human being. is supposed to be engaging. Captivating. Interesting to your audience.
You are providing us with absolutely none of that other than crazy moments of a mother brainwashing the hell out of her son. All of which culminates in? A serial killer maniac? Murders? Stalking? No. NONE of it. Just a sad person who has a decaying girlfriend in his living room for 2 hours. 138 minutes...your movie is 138 MINUTES LONG. It's longer than it has ANY right to be.
The biggest crime here. Is the fact that this movie is not a horror movie. Its a drama. Its a crazy, shocker packed drama about a lonely, sad, crazy man who falls in love with a decaying corpse.
The movie is not scary. Is isn't offering any sense of horror. Only disgustingness. It certainly wants us to feel for this guy. To understand how sad his life is. To see the sadness, and his wanting for love.
And it succeeds in doing so for about 3 minutes. And then its back to the same, linear, stereotypical "Wannabe horror" filler.
By the 2nd half of the movie we see him doing more of the same over and over, followed by crazy visions and nosebleeds brought on by? Idk. A tumor or him being crazy. Seeing dead people around him and plants coming alive. I don't even know at this point. Turns out his beloved mother burned herself to death too. Fear of germs got to her.
The longer I watched this movie. The lower the score got. There's just no word more befitting this film than Boring. Its dreary. Overly long and just tells a story that in no way befits Horror nor Thriller. It's a drama. With shocks. By the end the film culminates with him finding peace somehow. His mother stops haunting him in his dreams or whatever. Guilt or some trauma. Positive music plays. He goes to work and we realize all people he really knows don't exist. Manifestations in his mind. And...nothing we've spent 2 hours watching HAS AT ALL MATTERED! NOTHING HAS AT ALL MATTERED.
It doesn't have a satisfying ending. We take NOTHING away from this. It has ZERO replay value. Pointless story. ZERO point of no return. Terrible and lacking cinematography. Horribly written story. It's dreadfully boring. Has no horror.
I'm SO done. Go back to visual effects, Wartnerchaney 2 out of 10. WTF level.
We got our stereotypical lonely American guy who was raised by a religious nut job of a mother, now mentally damaged and insane.
Haven't we seen this a million times before? Honestly. I'm tired of the Ed Gein story by now.
A girl dies after trespassing in his house as well as her friend who joined her. He decides to keep the body of one because the other ran outside and was hit by a car because she thought he killed her friend, which he didn't.
The story goes downhill from there. I think the big issue here is that there is SO much filler and pointless scenery that doesn't add to his character other than providing us with WTF moments.
You got scenes where this obnoxious 50's music plays whilst he's doing his crazy weird workout and brushing his teeth. This repeats a few times. And overall its stuff like this that just keeps getting to be thrown at us. Pointless filler. Its like 80 % him tending to his flowers, doing his workout in maniac fashion, obnoxious music through the entire thing, us watching him walk around, experience things happen around him.
Just imagine this being a documentary, where you follow a guy in question as you hear his voice talking to us, etc. Now. Imagine the voice is gone and its just the camera, following him around.
There is your movie for about 80 % Seriously, Wartnerchaney. I'm a person who's open to the idea of crazy, disturbing horror. Different horror.
But I'm getting awfully tired of these cheap attempts to tell a the SAME story for the 50000th time in just a tiny different way.
This is the story of Ed Gein all over again, minus the gore. It's that boring.
40 minutes in the film the director finds it appropriate to still shoot the surroundings of the area as well as random terrain. Why? We know where we are. We know whats going on. We're almost at the point of no return and ZERO has been happening other than the girl dying, him doing whatever it is he's doing and her ...you guessed it...DECAYING.
If he killed the girl or something at LEAST we would have a killer on our hands, but he didn't. No. Its just him being crazy lonely so he keeps a dead body in his house.
The weird thing here are all these slow-motion scenes. And endless shocker flashbacks (which aren't shocking at all btw) that keep appearing over and over. to...what? provide us with character depth? Haha. Okay.
So 50 minutes in MORE sporadic, non-sensical scenes pop in. Stuff that makes zero sense but might be symbolically fitting to the director. All this followed by MORE of the same. Watching him ride to work for the 20th time. Sad, depressing music is playing. More scenery shots. His depressing as hell workplace. Total shots of the entire area as he walks around. Doing his pointless, sad job.
"sigh" Wartnerchaney. Telling a story about a broken mind. A crazy human being. is supposed to be engaging. Captivating. Interesting to your audience.
You are providing us with absolutely none of that other than crazy moments of a mother brainwashing the hell out of her son. All of which culminates in? A serial killer maniac? Murders? Stalking? No. NONE of it. Just a sad person who has a decaying girlfriend in his living room for 2 hours. 138 minutes...your movie is 138 MINUTES LONG. It's longer than it has ANY right to be.
The biggest crime here. Is the fact that this movie is not a horror movie. Its a drama. Its a crazy, shocker packed drama about a lonely, sad, crazy man who falls in love with a decaying corpse.
The movie is not scary. Is isn't offering any sense of horror. Only disgustingness. It certainly wants us to feel for this guy. To understand how sad his life is. To see the sadness, and his wanting for love.
And it succeeds in doing so for about 3 minutes. And then its back to the same, linear, stereotypical "Wannabe horror" filler.
By the 2nd half of the movie we see him doing more of the same over and over, followed by crazy visions and nosebleeds brought on by? Idk. A tumor or him being crazy. Seeing dead people around him and plants coming alive. I don't even know at this point. Turns out his beloved mother burned herself to death too. Fear of germs got to her.
The longer I watched this movie. The lower the score got. There's just no word more befitting this film than Boring. Its dreary. Overly long and just tells a story that in no way befits Horror nor Thriller. It's a drama. With shocks. By the end the film culminates with him finding peace somehow. His mother stops haunting him in his dreams or whatever. Guilt or some trauma. Positive music plays. He goes to work and we realize all people he really knows don't exist. Manifestations in his mind. And...nothing we've spent 2 hours watching HAS AT ALL MATTERED! NOTHING HAS AT ALL MATTERED.
It doesn't have a satisfying ending. We take NOTHING away from this. It has ZERO replay value. Pointless story. ZERO point of no return. Terrible and lacking cinematography. Horribly written story. It's dreadfully boring. Has no horror.
I'm SO done. Go back to visual effects, Wartnerchaney 2 out of 10. WTF level.
Unpleasant and unsettling but excellent acting
fairlesssam10 July 2017
Rob Zabrecky is utterly superb in this movie and is the only reason I continued to watch it through to the end. He reminded me of Crispin Glover.
While at work two women break into Jonathan's home. Jonathan is a very strange young man with what some would describe as weird habits and mental health issues stemming from childhood abuse. Jonathan comes home to find the two women in his home, one of which who falls and hits her head and tragically dies in the basement. In a panic the other girl runs and gets killed by a car. Jonathan panics and keeps the corpse of the girl in his home and begins to treat it/her as his girlfriend. Of course she begins to decay and Jonathan's world starts to unravel as he becomes distressed, stressed and at a loss as to what to do.
I found this movie disturbing and gross. Having said that it is superbly acted by all involved, the story and characters are very well thought out and really fascinating. I just didn't like the subject matter.
While at work two women break into Jonathan's home. Jonathan is a very strange young man with what some would describe as weird habits and mental health issues stemming from childhood abuse. Jonathan comes home to find the two women in his home, one of which who falls and hits her head and tragically dies in the basement. In a panic the other girl runs and gets killed by a car. Jonathan panics and keeps the corpse of the girl in his home and begins to treat it/her as his girlfriend. Of course she begins to decay and Jonathan's world starts to unravel as he becomes distressed, stressed and at a loss as to what to do.
I found this movie disturbing and gross. Having said that it is superbly acted by all involved, the story and characters are very well thought out and really fascinating. I just didn't like the subject matter.
Seriously?
garrettarobinson12 April 2016
I love to watch non-mainstream movies. This was not one to watch. I understand the character's problems, but everything was left to one's own imagination. The attempt to thrill you had you question a lot of the movie, but the final last minutes left me curious. I would recommend watching it only to hear your opinion but I don't suggest it. I rated it a 1 out of 10...I wish it could have been higher...the movie really had potential but failed to deliver. If you enjoyed the movie I would like to know why? I really liked the main character...he did a fine job of his role. Again, this movie was very creative in the plot, but I couldn't justify giving it a better rating.
One of the worst
mccolejohn14 June 2019
Original Film with Horror Entwined with Drama
claudio_carvalho17 December 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Two teenage girls break in the house of Jonathan (Rob Zabrecky) expecting to find marijuana in his greenhouse in the basement. However Jonathan returns from his work and surprises Katlyn (Hannah Barron) that is in the top of a ladder. She startles, falls on the floor and dies. When her friend sees Katlyn dead, she believes Jonathan has killed Katlyn and runs to the street. She is hit by a car and also dies. Jonathan is a lonely obsessive, compulsive and psychotic man that collects keys and has cleaning compulsion. His mother (Lisa Howard) also suffered from OCD and raised him with the same paranoia. His only friends are his neighbor (Jackie Hoffman) that helps him at home and the security guard (Elisha Yaffe) in the closed amusement park where he works as janitor. Jonathan does not report the incident to the police; instead, he decides to keep the beautiful Katlyn in the bathtub with ice and she becomes his girlfriend. He has dinner with her, baths her, until the day her body begins to decay. What will Jonathan do?
"Decay" is an original film with horror entwined with drama. The screenplay is well-written, exploring and explaining Jonathan's disorder. The cinematography is magnificent and the scene with the close of the flowers is amazing. The slow pace is necessary to show the journey to the damaged mind of Jonathan and sometimes is tiresome. The conclusion with his imaginary friend is totally unexpected and shows how dysfunctional Jonathan is. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): Not Available
"Decay" is an original film with horror entwined with drama. The screenplay is well-written, exploring and explaining Jonathan's disorder. The cinematography is magnificent and the scene with the close of the flowers is amazing. The slow pace is necessary to show the journey to the damaged mind of Jonathan and sometimes is tiresome. The conclusion with his imaginary friend is totally unexpected and shows how dysfunctional Jonathan is. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): Not Available
A truly mesmerizing journey into loneliness
tturner-0707916 April 2016
This movie nailed it! I've watched it twice and plan to view it a third. The truly beautiful and tragic depiction of loneliness displayed in this movie is utterly heartbreaking. Mad props to the filmmakers and cast for their engrossing telling of this story.
Don't listen to the others wanting "junk food" from their movies. This is a grown-up movie for intelligent adults. Thank you for having the courage to give us a glimpse into a truly troubled mind. But most of all thank you for not submitting us to the tropes of other so-called "horror movies".
Sometimes there is more horror, pain and loneliness in ones own subconscious than a stupid CG monster jumping out of the bushes.
Don't listen to the others wanting "junk food" from their movies. This is a grown-up movie for intelligent adults. Thank you for having the courage to give us a glimpse into a truly troubled mind. But most of all thank you for not submitting us to the tropes of other so-called "horror movies".
Sometimes there is more horror, pain and loneliness in ones own subconscious than a stupid CG monster jumping out of the bushes.
Fresh
scythertitus23 September 2016
This small scale horror is rich with intricate visuals and mood. There is very little in the way of scares here and deals more with the psychology of obsession and childhood trauma.
Despite not being a splatter fest it still contains some imagery to make the skin crawl and the stomach churn. The acting is good and it gives off a purposefully skewed vibe of strangeness. It's kind of like a horror version of Lars and the Real Girl.
Overall the film is a visually engaging, and a near one-man piece that is slow, meticulous and repetitive, but in this case that is the whole point.
Despite not being a splatter fest it still contains some imagery to make the skin crawl and the stomach churn. The acting is good and it gives off a purposefully skewed vibe of strangeness. It's kind of like a horror version of Lars and the Real Girl.
Overall the film is a visually engaging, and a near one-man piece that is slow, meticulous and repetitive, but in this case that is the whole point.
An unlocked door is an evil door.
nogodnomasters17 January 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Jonathan (Rob Zabrecky) is very Obsessive/ Compulsive. He works as a maintenance keeper at an amusement park in Aurora, Colorado. We get glimpses of his childhood of a domineering mother (Lisa Howard) with irrational fears. Jonathan has a half dozen dead bolts on his front door, but a back door that is easily broken into as we see two young ladies force they way into his house to snoop. Jonathan surprises them and one dies from a fall (Hannah Barron) and the other (Whitney Hayes) gets killed by a speeding car in his cul-de-sac. Jonathan who longs for a friend, keeps the dead girl on ice as he listens to his co-worker (Elisha Yaffe) tell him daily fantastic tales of sex. Jackie Hoffman is a neighbor who helps Jonathan a man who doesn't realize he has a condition.
The body of the girl decays creating issues for Jonathan who dislikes germs and bugs. As the girl decays, so does Jonathan's life, in general, as it disrupts his routine of work, medication, and nightmares. The director wanted to make us feel the obsessive routine of Jonathan by re-creating the same scene multiple times with the same effect, including the two girls who are at the same place at the same time everyday saying the same thing. It was a bit over kill. Rob Zabrecky did an excellent job in his role catching the crazed Anthony Perkins/ Crispin Glover type of performance. However this was not exactly horror or thriller. It was art house repetition, expansion by parallelism. While the film was made and performed in an excellent manner, the lack of a well paced linear plot made the film low entertainment. I am sure it will have its fans.
Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.
The body of the girl decays creating issues for Jonathan who dislikes germs and bugs. As the girl decays, so does Jonathan's life, in general, as it disrupts his routine of work, medication, and nightmares. The director wanted to make us feel the obsessive routine of Jonathan by re-creating the same scene multiple times with the same effect, including the two girls who are at the same place at the same time everyday saying the same thing. It was a bit over kill. Rob Zabrecky did an excellent job in his role catching the crazed Anthony Perkins/ Crispin Glover type of performance. However this was not exactly horror or thriller. It was art house repetition, expansion by parallelism. While the film was made and performed in an excellent manner, the lack of a well paced linear plot made the film low entertainment. I am sure it will have its fans.
Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.
Heavy in symbolism Decay is a winner!
nmitchem28 April 2016
Decay is one of the most fascinating movies I've see in years.
This movie is a character study. And a great one at that. The film is perfectly cast and the direction is pitch perfect. Within each scene lays deep caverns of unspoken information depicted through the art direction, cinematography, and performance.
The symbolism throughout is utterly amazing!! Upon a second viewing, I have discovered a far more in-depth understanding of the intricate scenes that have been delicately crafted. These scenes paint patterns of the main characters (Jonathan) life and tell a truly tragic tail.
I absolutely loved it!
This movie is a character study. And a great one at that. The film is perfectly cast and the direction is pitch perfect. Within each scene lays deep caverns of unspoken information depicted through the art direction, cinematography, and performance.
The symbolism throughout is utterly amazing!! Upon a second viewing, I have discovered a far more in-depth understanding of the intricate scenes that have been delicately crafted. These scenes paint patterns of the main characters (Jonathan) life and tell a truly tragic tail.
I absolutely loved it!
Pretty
antimog25 February 2018
Jonathan is a man with many problems, he finds himself trapped in a routine that seems to be the only thing to keep his fragile mental stability. All his problems are caused by his mother, whom we see through several flashbacks, too apprehensive and severe with his only son. Jonathan becomes a compulsive accumulator, which leads him to keep the body of a girl who died of an accident in her home.
I did not expect such a maniacal care for photography, with scenes to say the least stunningly visual, with an actor looking absolutely perfect for his character. Unfortunately I regret to admit that they have focused too much on photography, but not so much on the screenplay and the plot, not developed not at full potential. The flashbacks are the backbone of the film, the only scenes really disturbing, but not visually, it destroys you in thinking of the physical and psychological torture suffered by poor Jonathan because of the mother, who is obsessed with germs and the possibility of dying because of a lit stove or an open door. It is very easy to empathize with the protagonist, both as an adult and as a child, which I really appreciated.
Wowzer. Unexpected and brutally beautiful
aidan_coheed7 November 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This film is superbly made, it's descent is beautiful.
Wonderfully acted and paced very well.
A story of being lonely and seeing what childhood trauma can do to a person.
Yes it's messed up, but beautifully shot and a score to die for is a east reason to love this film.
I felt disgusted but so sorry at the same time.
A must watch for film lovers that don't want a scare or big action packed film.
Wonderfully acted and paced very well.
A story of being lonely and seeing what childhood trauma can do to a person.
Yes it's messed up, but beautifully shot and a score to die for is a east reason to love this film.
I felt disgusted but so sorry at the same time.
A must watch for film lovers that don't want a scare or big action packed film.
I loved it !
wartsmyname4 July 2017
Decay is such a good film. I saw it free online! I always end up regretting the 'free films' I watch in the graveyard hours but Decay is different. It is psychedelic but such a well made film.
Such a shame that it has a low rating here. It seems like a lot of folks haven't understood the reason 'Decay' has been made the way it is - the idea is to really get into the skin of the character, to understand his past and present issues. I felt instantly drawn to the main lead, I felt sympathetic towards him. This doesn't happen very often and Decay makes you feel for the guy. I loved it. There are reasons for the uncomfortable and repetitive nature of scenes. This is how it is living with severe OCD for many people out there. Everything in life is patterned. It is the same thing day after day after day. And when something does change in the routine, it take a huge effort, a lot of courage and strength to change even a little bit of the routine. There is this stricture to routine and set patterns that can get maddening for some viewers as is evident by some reviews here but I think this needed to be shown and one must give credit to the director and main lead for portraying it so well.
Very well done. Please make more films!
Such a shame that it has a low rating here. It seems like a lot of folks haven't understood the reason 'Decay' has been made the way it is - the idea is to really get into the skin of the character, to understand his past and present issues. I felt instantly drawn to the main lead, I felt sympathetic towards him. This doesn't happen very often and Decay makes you feel for the guy. I loved it. There are reasons for the uncomfortable and repetitive nature of scenes. This is how it is living with severe OCD for many people out there. Everything in life is patterned. It is the same thing day after day after day. And when something does change in the routine, it take a huge effort, a lot of courage and strength to change even a little bit of the routine. There is this stricture to routine and set patterns that can get maddening for some viewers as is evident by some reviews here but I think this needed to be shown and one must give credit to the director and main lead for portraying it so well.
Very well done. Please make more films!
A movie about a crazy mommys boy
dslr8825 November 2020
Slow paced thriller for sure but keeps things moving just enough to keep your attention. Some good surprises and the actor playing the lonely guy is rather good as the clearly disturbed mommys boy. It is a tad depressing in some ways I guess but theres enough in here to keep you entertained. Overall a well done flick done on a lowish budget. Looks pretty good too. Strangely I probably would recommend this
Loving a lunatic
dedeurs8 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This film got some viewers quite upset, and I understand that. The Mommy character outdoes the stepmother psycho in Cinderella by miles! But the main subject in this film is not so much what Jonathan is doing- it's what drove him to it. However gruesome his actions may be, Jonathan lost my sympathy not for a moment. He's no Norman Bates, no Carol (from Polanski's Repulsion), no Hannibal Lecter. Persons who alienate themselves to audiences. Notice how polite and perfectly normal Jonathan is towards commuters. During his talk with them Jonathan is hiding guilt, but he has done no wrong. Not really. * Quite a few reviewers elsewhere called the movie too slow. I didn't notice. It's totally mesmerizing, and extremely well made. The cinematography is beautiful, the casting perfect, the acting great, the screenplay carefully worked out (Jonathan for instance speaks during dinners only once to his 'girlfriend', him blabbering away all the time would have spoiled the delicacy of those moments), the special effects are realistic, the metaphors subtle. And let's not forget the editing. One of the fabulous assets to this film is for certain the editing. It has an amazing ending, too, even as it left me with more than a few questions. Not because of a faulty script! Just one thing bothered me a bit; a tiny continuity error. Every morning Jonathan wakes up with a small nosebleed. And in every one of these scenes the red spot looks exactly the same. You get aware of it as his face is always in close- up at these moments. In all other regards this film shot itself straight into my top three of Dark movies. * About this OCD thing that people write about in relation to Decay: I wonder why the theme must be labeled OCD. We simply have a pain and abuse threshold, at a certain point we tend to short-circuit. Dentist's fear, a hostage situation, concentration camp and school bullying traumas. And they don't go away after a good night's sleep and a pill description and a professionally nodding therapist. Hence a guy like Jonathan. For whom I can weep. * But the point is, it seems that our intelligence level got too high for us to handle. When the "I think therefore I am" awareness crept in, we threw out Instinct, and ever since we have barely been able to control our sensibilities, and carrying around warped ideas and mental issues and disorders without a clear reason only seems to increase. Autistic/borderline/bipolar children, anyone? Mother Nature, what have you done...
Dazzling, a near-masterpiece depiction of loneliness, ocd and trauma
karencave-6276323 October 2019
I wasn't expecting too much, but I absolutely loved this film. Absolutely stunning visuals that contrasted beauty and vividness with stomach-churning grisly moments...
I've seen a lot of horror. I like thought-provoking films, and this certainly is that. Absolutely unique and different to anything else I have seen. The daily repetition of the main character's ocd rituals are perfectly depicted... he has created his own prison in his mind and in his home... and we get to see via flashback where this paranoia and germ phobia came from.
Very unusual in that you have some genuinely beautiful moment, sadness, and the truly disturbing pathology of a person who is utterky lonely and alone, willing to only able to tryly relate to a corpse. Superb.
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