This may sound strange, since I just finished putting three stars up there in the “Scare Factor” section, but FEAR ME NOT is not a horror movie. Not one bit horror. Not even psychological horror, per se. But the thing is, I was scared. Throughout most of the film, I was on edge, uneasy, and felt like I needed to look away even when absolutely nothing was going on. So I don’t know—does that make it horror?
From the trailers I had seen, the impression was given that this was a movie about a normal guy who starts taking some anti-depressants as part of a clinical trial and winds up going bug nutty. Well, that’s sort of it. Forty-something and seemingly bored with his life, Mikael Neumann (Ulrich Thomsen) is on leave from his job and seems to be bugging his architect wife Sigrid (Paprika Steen) with his very presence. One day while rowing with doctor best friend Frederik (Lars Brygmann), Mikael hears about some trials for a drug, so he decides it’s time to get a new hobby and signs up. All goes swimmingly for a while, and Mikael feels better than ever—but when people start reacting violently to the drug and the trials are terminated, Mikael doesn’t toss his supply in the trash, as he promises Frederik, but sets out to do his OWN trial, with results that prove more unpredictable and increasingly frightening.
See, that sounds possibly scary, and the trailers definitely play up the “action” scenes to make things appear more, well, I guess violent. There’s not one bit of gore, no blood, and nothing really even jumps out for a “BOO!” factor. It’s all a slow build—probably too slow for some—and the payoff is very subtle. The scares are all in the mind, and the ‘thinking about what might happen’ range of scenarios is scary because Mikael seems so normal. Director Kristian Levring does this fantastic thing—there’s no background music—and without it, we’re left with no auditory clue about how to feel about certain situations. Levring makes us feel creepy and uneasy, because we know what’s going on, we know how many pills Mikael has been taking, and we know what he’s been writing in his journal. Thomsen and Steen give standout performances—especially Thomsen, who has Mikael’s charm and icy eyes both down pat—and as daughter Selma, Emma Sehstede Hoeg is a refreshing find who actually seems her age! And yeah, I was scared—not because anything scary ever happens, but because with the sterile rooms and weird angles and silence, it feels like anything COULD. In that sense, it does seem like horror, because one of its signature qualities is it keeps us guessing. My only beef is with the conclusion(s), which feels anti-climactic in a way, Overall, though, FEAR ME NOT is well worth seeing—just go in expecting less horror, more drama.
Fear Me Not will be available on IFC Festival Direct On Demand Nationwide JUNE 10, 2009.
– Amber Goddard
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