{Michael is screening at SIFF Cinema Uptown through Thursday, 5/17}

I’m not really sure I can recommend this one to anybody, as I feel like it’s either going to leave you severely depressed, or trigger memories from a traumatic event. I’m still kind of struggling with it—even though I know it’s “just” a film.

Michael chronicles the life of a pedophile who keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in his basement. And while it isn’t graphic, Director Markus Schleinzer shows you just enough detail to make you severely uncomfortable. I guess the point is to make you see that even the most normal human beings can be complete monsters, but I’m not sure this is something everyone doesn’t already know.

Schleinzer does an excellent job of drawing you into the day-to-day with little sensationalism, without any kind of dramatic story arc. It’s just about a very sick man and his captive—struggling with accepting life as is, or trying to get away.

Do I think you should see it? Eeesh. I … just. I can’t really. I mean, from a filmmaking perspective, it’s pretty interesting if you can focus solely on story and acting. But uh, I don’t really know anyone who’d be able to watch this without feeling pretty icky by the end.