Antichrist

Denmark, Germany, 2009

Avant-Garde, Drama

Synopsis

A heartbroken couple grieving the loss of their son in an accident attempt to find peace and sanity in their relationship through a trip to their cabin, ‘Eden,’ in the woods. But nature reveals its dark and violent roots as things begin to spiral downwards.

Our take

One of the most infamous and extreme of film provocations, Antichrist is nonetheless the work of a visionary. A must-see, maniacal horror film, and an endurance test for which Charlotte Gainsbourg won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival.

Antichrist Directed by Lars von Trier

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Awards & Festivals

Cannes Film Festival

2009 | Winner: Best Actress

2009 | Nominee: Palme d'Or

Berlin International Film Festival

2018

Toronto International Film Festival

2009

Village Voice Film Poll

2009 | 2nd place: Best Actress

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Cast & Crew

Articles from the Notebook

Critics reviews

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The lack of relief, of any kind, is the comedy. The sheer endurance-test nature of the material takes on its own satirical velocity without undermining the seriousness of the violence, which is graphic in a way that Mother!, with its MPAA R-rating, can’t approach. Nor does it dull the power of the script’s various subtexts, which are nightmarishly contradictory where Aronofsky’s are, finally, far too cute to be unsettling. Mother! solves itself, but Antichrist remains wide open, like a wound.

Adam Nayman

September 21, 2017

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Von Trier has mobilized the resources of horror cinema to delve into the long history of “monstrous femininity” and misogyny—not to reassure us that it’s all in the past, or easily curable by therapeutic platitudes, but to make us feel the true horror of facing our buried fears and conflicts. And that is surely the aim of art that matters.

Ian Christie

November 09, 2010

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Rightwing Film Geek

Hypnotic. If I had to write a one-word review of this film, that would be the one. I knew this film would live up to my expectations in a scene where therapist husband Willem Dafoe says “close your eyes … and imagine” to wife Charlotte Gainsbourg, who is going mad with grief over the death of their son. I closed my eyes too and sank into my chair too, and it was as if Lars was semi-hypnotizing me too.

Victor Morton

September 12, 2009

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What are people saying?

Max Kazaam Wilde's rating of the film Antichrist
Max Kazaam Wilde

The fact that Antichrist is so polarizing is almost always due to what we see happen on screen rather than the themes the images put together and that's sad. It's a wonderful movie about males and females and western culture (so much really, very symbol heavy), told in a way that is obviously shameless and unforgiving which for a movie like this, was completely called for.
December 22, 2019 23:03
- 16
- 0
salemsharp's rating of the film Antichrist
salemsharp

breathtakingly gorgeous, this to me justifies the medium.
December 21, 2019 00:58
- 9
- 0
Hugo Resendiz Saldivar's rating of the film Antichrist
Hugo Resendiz Saldivar

Es una película muy perturbadora, realmente la sensación de verla es como observar esas pinturas medievales y renacentistas de aquelarres y demonios. La historia que raya en lo común y que muchas veces el cine ha contado, pero Lars Von Trier realiza un ejercicio magistral de como contar una historia con otros recursos. De manera muy intimista, introspectiva y brutal.
November 29, 2019 21:42
- 4
- 0
Beneezy's rating of the film Antichrist
Beneezy

My first Von Trier experience and also the coldest film I've seen in years. I felt the uncomfortable lack of warmth throughout the film. This is a full-throtte depressng film. It was mostly about sex and then death, and then sex again, and so on. I believe Von Trier reached his goal with this one. "Antichrist" is dark, distrubing, and crazy! It's a grim film that wants you to feel the torment its characters do. 5STAR
March 13, 2020 10:36
- 7
- 0
Martin Florio's rating of the film Antichrist
Martin Florio

I have no words for this film. The work of a genius. Amazing in each and every way. I also loved the Tarkovski tribute, but I think he missed the Bergman one too.
December 21, 2019 00:58
- 8
- 0
Jesper Hvass's rating of the film Antichrist
Jesper Hvass

This is a very interesting film. Beautiful cinematography and a devastating story. A future classic. What I don´t understand in the coverage of this film is the tendency to treat this film as if it was some kind of a manifest: "Von Trier is a woman-hater". True, Gainsbourgs character is not your typical american-fun-loving-girl, but I find it simplistic to reduce it to a statement about women.
November 26, 2019 19:42
- 6
- 0
Ally the Manic Listmaker's rating of the film Antichrist
Ally the Manic Listmaker

I absolutely love Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe, which is why I gave this film a chance. However, it is one of the worst films I've ever seen and is atrociously ridiculous. Chaos does not reign, sorry.
May 04, 2020 17:06
- 8
- 0
El Biffo's rating of the film Antichrist
El Biffo

I couldn't handle this sadistic film, but it does open up with a XXX porno scene! The rest is just pure sadistic violence, however. Watch it if you like that sort of thing.
January 24, 2019 17:39
- 2
- 0