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Fear Me Not

Play trailer Poster for Fear Me Not 2008 1h 35m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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71% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 60% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
Michael signs up for an experimental drug trial which is canceled due to dangerous side effects. He continues taking the drugs and loses all control making his repressed instincts resurface with a force and violence that no one expected.

Critics Reviews

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Ed Gonzalez Slant Magazine The latest from the Dogma cine-factory is notable for director Kristian Levring's visual suggestion of madness. Rated: 2.5/4 May 3, 2009 Full Review Brian Tallerico HollywoodChicago.com A dark thriller that doesn't completely come together but Thomsen's excellent performance keeps it from falling apart and fans of left-of-center suspense films should take a look. Mar 19, 2009 Full Review Chris Cabin Filmcritic.com reaches for palpable psychosis but, in the end, achieves only meandering dread. Rated: 3/5 Jun 16, 2009 Full Review Robin Clifford Reeling Reviews Couple the deft writing, direction and superb acting, especially Ulrich Thomsen, with the lush, beautiful photography (by Jens Schlosser) and you get an above average study... Rated: B+ Jun 13, 2009 Full Review Geoff Berkshire Metromix.com The kind of concept Alfred Hitchcock would have loved ... a hauntingly effective little film. Rated: 3.5/5 Jun 11, 2009 Full Review Laura Clifford Reeling Reviews A calm, quiet performance from Ulrich Thomsen initially seems too restrained, but Levring and his star prove they know exactly what they are doing in this uniquely startling character study. Rated: B+ Jun 8, 2009 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Den du Frygter (Fear Me Not) (Kristian Levring, 2008) It would be possible to write an entirely accurate review of Fear Me Not in exactly eleven words. "Ulrich Thomsen. Paprika Steen. What more do you need to know?" Amazon, however, required reviewers to write at least twenty, so I might as well go whole hog and tell you more, for those of you (there may be a few out there) for whom Thomsen (Adam's Apples) and Steen (Applause) are not automatic selling points. The two of them play a married couple, Mikael and Sigrid. Mikael has taken a leave of absence from work for an undisclosed reason; we can reasonably assume it has to do with his anxiety and depression, which he attempts to hide from Sigrid and their daughter Selma (Magi I Luften's Emma Sehested Hoeg) as much as possible. (He doesn't do a very good job of it, but the two of them are willfully blind to his condition, Sigrid more so.) One of the few routines he is still clinging to is rowing a few mornings a week with his friend and brother-in-law Frederik (Terribly Happy's Lars Brygman), a doctor whose hospital is about to start a trial of a new anti-anxiety medication. Mikael asks if he can get in on it; Frederik reluctantly agrees. At first, everything seems to be going swimmingly; Mikael becomes cheerful, connects with his family, starts talking about going back to work. But then, the changes start taking a darker turn. A few months before I watched Fear Me Not, I watched Side Effects, the latest (as of this writing) film from Steven Soderbergh, which covers, at least in its first third, a very similar scenario. I was not terribly fond of Side Effects, though I did like that first bit some. Fear Me Not has shown me why I was dissatisfied with a good deal of it. Soderbergh used this idea, of a drug trial gone hideously wrong, as the springboard to something else, and he put very little thought into that part of the film as a result; Rooney Mara's character went bonkers, and that set the scene for his real movie. Here, on the other hand, it is the real movie; this is what the press for Side Effects wanted you to believe it was, and Levring (The Intended) manages, with very little effort, to create a sense of palpable menace. Excellently-drawn characters working their way through a cracking script with a very mean heart. I say again: what more do you need to know? *** 1/2 Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member I like my movies slow but this pushes even my limits. Not a horrible premise but as we wait and watch this guy devolve, well nothing moves very quickly. Danish films are usually pretty top-notch so I like to watch them. I guess they need Mads Mikkelson to truly be effective. This is the story of a workaholic who takes some time off. Out of boredom and perhaps because he thinks he's depressed, he volunteers for an anti-depression trial. I figured out the twist pretty much instantly but I wasn't sure. Either way, the plot moves very slowly and nothing really happens. You could say it builds to something...and it does, but it's so damn slow that I feel they could erase 30 minutes of the movie and still be as effective. And speaking of that ending, it's a European flick so you're not guaranteed a happy ending. I always like that...not knowing for sure. It's kinda like life. The good guy doesn't always win. I won't spoil the ending here so you still don't know (not like anyone's going to watch it anyway...) Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member could not get into this one -- too much about midlife crisis Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member reaches for palpable psychosis but, in the end, achieves only meandering dread. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member In a nutshell, a story of a man living a seemingly happy family life, having an existential crisis. It's somewhat uncomfortable, yet fascinating in a way, watching the main character unravel. Somehow, Scandinavian movies manage to capture bleak atmosphere of urban dread and desperation exceptionally well. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member Creepy psychological thriller with a great performance by Thomsen. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Fear Me Not

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Michael signs up for an experimental drug trial which is canceled due to dangerous side effects. He continues taking the drugs and loses all control making his repressed instincts resurface with a force and violence that no one expected.
Director
Kristian Levring
Producer
Sisse Graum Jørgensen
Screenwriter
Anders Thomas Jensen, Kristian Levring
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Danish
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 18, 2017
Runtime
1h 35m