3096 Days – Review

3096 Days opens on a snowy mountainside in Austria, just months before the escape of Natascha (Campbell-Hughes). We learn that her captor, Wolfgang Priklopil (Lindhardt), has grown so confident about his relationship with her that he feels secure enough to take her on a skiing trip. The action then flashes back to March 1998, when a 10-year-old Natascha (Pidgeon) is bundled screaming into the back of Priklopil`s white van and trapped in an underground prison.

It`s a discomforting movie, to say the least, but while 3096 Days depicts acts of unflinching violence and sexual abuse, its most harrowing moments lies in its unmitigated portrayal of psychological dehumanisation. Natascha is starved as punishment for `misbehaving`, deprived of sunlight and human contact, slowly conditioned by her kidnapper`s obsession for cleanliness and domination of her behaviour. The film itself is not overly dramatised, with director Hormann laying out the proceedings in a factual manner that makes it all the more disturbing.

It feels irreverent to talk about acting in light of the real suffering portrayed in 3096 Days, but the film`s depiction of Natascha`s tormentor strikes this reviewer as vaguely problematic. Lindhardt puts in a credible effort as Priklopil, and the character is nuanced enough to feel like a real person with real psychoses rather than a two-dimensional stage villain. We get glimpses into his everyday life his coddling mother, his arrested development and while it adds an interesting psychological layer to his relationship with his victim, it also undermines the brutality depicted. Thure imbues the character with an element that feels peevish rather than depraved, fastidious rather than obsessed, and serves as a less-than-intense counterpoint to the outstanding performances of Campbell-Hughes and Pidgeon.

3096 Days is not an easy movie to watch, and when Natascha finally does make her escape, it feels like an exorcism rather than a resolution. Amidst the darkness of its themes, 3096 Days` depiction of Natascha`s ordeal is a testament to an individual`s will to live.

Summary: Harrowing and emotive.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Raphael Lim