Review
"Simon Killer" is an odd bleak and deeply unsettling film that I simply could not get to grips with. It tells the story of a young American neuroscience graduate Simon (Brady Corbet). Simon leaves the United States and goes to Paris in an attempt to get over the somewhat traumatic breakup of a fiveyear relationship with his girlfriend Michelle (a character who does not appear in the film). There is something not quite right about Simon. He is a bit like Patricia Highsmith's wellknown antihero Tom Ripley cold unfeeling amoral and emotionally unintelligent. He is also a compulsive liar.
Soon after his arrival in the French capital (where he initially stays with a cousin of his who is in fact not really a relation but a friend of the family) Simon goes into a sex club where he pays for sex with one of the resident prostitutes Victoria (Mati Diop). As a result of that encounter he develops a relationship with her and later moves into her small flat. Victoria opens up to Simon and tells him intimate details of her past including the fact that she miscarried some time ago. Simon is less willing to disclose information about himself to Victoria. Indeed one of the many problems with the film is that the viewer is given little or no hint as to what actually motivates Simon and why he frequently behaves so oddly. Part of that oddness is his attitude to women whom he seems to view as nothing more than objects of sexual desire. At the same time he attempts to blackmail some of Victoria's Ȭustomers" in order to finance his stay in Paris. He later meets another attractive young woman whom he had bumped into earlier in his stay and begins a brief relationship with her. This understandably upsets Victoria. Things move on from there.
"Simon Killer" is a very unpleasant film. It is full of graphic sex scenes many of which are quite unnecessary in that they add little or nothing to plot or character development. In addition Simon is a deeply unsympathetic character. It is left to the viewer to decide why he is like he is. There are hints that he has some sort of Oedipus complex or perhaps a personality disorder (or both). What is clear is that he is an extremely selfish and shallow person who lacks any sort of empathy for other people. Much of the plot has the feel of improvisation about it. And it's really not at all clear what the message of the film is. In addition to all that I was simply not convinced by the relationship between Simon and Victoria in particular why of all her many Ȭustomers" she would choose him as someone with whom to have a serious relationship. Although the conclusion of the film is well done much of what precedes it is ponderous and lethargic and as a result extremely boring. The soundtrack however is one of the best of any film that I have seen. But when all is said and done "Simon Killer" is an unsatisfactory film that is difficult to recommend. 510