A God Without a Universe | Film Review

a-god-without-a-universeA God Without a Universe (Denmark - 2015) is a film recently distributed by Thomas Binder's Austrian label BlackLava. Difficult to categorize, this deep and unhealthy drama is expertly written and directed by Kasper Juhl, who is already well-known in horror circles for having directed, in 2013, Madness of Many.

In line with the extreme distributions tagged BlackLava, even A God Without a Universe is a rotten and deeply sick film intended for a horror-loving audience. The drama that forms the backdrop of the story is nothing more than a pretext for bringing to the stage the effects or consequences of a troubled past.

Plot: A brother (Johannes Nymark) and sister (Anne Sofie Adelsparre) meet again as adults after a tragic accident separated them as children. The shadow of their murky past, however, will influence their actions, leading them down a dark path that will confront them with another dramatic event.

gudsforladt
Through flashbacks, which gradually become more precise and detailed, the viewer is thrown into a situation of deep unease in which horror lurks within the family unit and grows, protected by omertà. The acts of violence perpetrated within the domestic walls and that poisoned the lives of the two brothers have become, for them, echoes of memories impossible to erase.

The cutting edge A God Without a Universe is able to convey the state of degradation and inner malaise of those who cannot think about the future. These former innocents have now turned into incurable monsters, sexual deviants and criminals because of life's injustices. Unable to rise to the surface and heal their wounds, the two protagonists, hunched over their pain, indulge in all that is considered wrong, heedless of death as well as life itself.

In A God Without a Universe horror lies in thoughts and desires rather than in actions. In Kasper Juhl's film even a simple kiss or caress becomes unbearable enough for the viewer to annoy and provoke disgust. The intent of the film, namely to shock the audience, is successful.

A God Without a Universe also succeeds in making one feel deep pity for the two characters, played, by the way, masterfully by Johannes Nymark and Anne Sofie Adelsparre. The final sequence that blurs into horror is welcome.

In the cast: Johannes Nymark, Anne Sofie Adelsparre, Peter Aude, Tommas Capion, Joachim Knop, Sonny Lindberg, Ann Hjort, Mads Knarreborg, Marie-Louise Damgaard Nielsen, and Paw Terndrup.

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A God Without a Universe (aka Gudsforladt) is currently available, in an uncut version, in the online shop of BlackLava Entertainment. The DVD (with Danish audio and subtitles in French, German, English, and Dutch) is presented in a beautifully edited and gorgeous slipcase and amaray edition with interior artwork. The DVD enjoys an excellent audio and video compartment. Special contents also include, in addition to the audio commentary, the short film Insekt, directed by Juhl himself in 2014.
Insekt is in a sense the precursor to A God Without a Universe in that it presents some of the same themes as the feature film, offering the viewer the same atmosphere of squalor.

DVD technical data:

Duration: 94 min
Audio: Danish
Subtitles: French, German, English, Dutch
Extra: short film Insekt (2014) by Kasper Juhl, audio commentary

 

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Barbara Torretti
Barbara Torretti
Editor and moderator of the DarkVeins community. Passionate about horror cinema, I also do reviews and interviews pertaining to the film, music and art circuit.

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