The Maus (2017) Reviews

• Was this movie a metaphor?

  chrislesmckis2018-07-12

  Correct me if im wrong, but was this movie a metaphor? There is a lot of tension between bosnia and serbia due to the genocide that happened in the mid 90's. The vibes that im getting from this film is that Selma represents Bosnia (specifically the muslim population of Bosnia), Alex represents western Europe, and the two serbians, Vuk and Milos, obviously represent Serbia. So, early on in the film, Selma begins to have hallucinations of the two Serbian men raping her or aggressively apprehending her, which happened thousands of Muslim Bosnians during the genocide. Then, she witnesses Alex being shot, representing her loved ones being killed. Selma obviously has PTSD of the events that happened in her childhood. The "monster" that is shown later, i feel is just a physical manifestation of herself seeking revenge. Alex, representing western europe, is either constantly intervening but doing absolutely nothing to resolve conflict. I might be giving this film to much depth, but thats how i perceived it.

• Nothing fancy, yet quite entertaining.

  nitzanhavoc2019-01-13

  The Maus is one these films in which the location serves to create a meaningful part of the overall discomforting mood. As always, it comes with all sorts of supporting (or unsupportive from the protagonists' perspective) features, such as no cellular reception and a language barrier. While I'm not a fan of using these particular defining aspects, I must admit that including the female protagonist's obvious (and completely understandable) PTSD after surviving the Serbian cleansing of Bosnian Muslims added a lot of character and quality to the story. The plot is quite simple to understand from the film's description (and from watching the first ten minutes). Selma (Alma Terzic) and her boyfriend Alex (August Wittgenstein) visit Bosnia and become stranded and lost in one of its vast forests, which happens to be riddled with unmarked mine fields. By chance they happen to meet two "local" Serbs, Vuk (Aleksandar Seksan) and Milos (Sanin Milavic), who offer to assist them. From that point - reality and paranoia become mixed and intertwined as Selma initially distrusts the two on account of their origin, seeing in them the same type of people who murdered her family during the war. The acting is quite impressive (especially by Seksan and Milavic whose performance keeps the audience guessing as to their true intentions and nature and Selma's sanity) and the story progresses in a very compelling way. Each and every scene seems to have been meticulously chosen to serve the film's conclusion and final plot twist (which isn't brilliant but definitely serves as a fine and terrible closure). While in no way "fun" to watch - The Maus is pretty rewarding for Horror fans who enjoy being depressed by human nature and what we can at times bring ourselves to do to our fellow man. All in all, The Maus is far from being a masterpiece and none of its features are delivered in an overly impressive manner. It's simple enough and does a pretty decent job in toying with the audience's thoughts and emotions (which I assume was the creators' initial goal). Nothing fancy, yet quite rewarding by its own right. I don't think it deserves the low rating and all the harsh criticism it has received here (now there's a surprise), but you could still find something better (or a lot worse) to watch.

• Decent film, depends a lot on self interpretation

  nooriintikhab2018-05-05

  Not a horror film in the scene of pop ups. More like the affects of war on people. If you're looking for an action packed horror with pop ups and jump scares this isn't it. Good film could've been better if it explained some stuff, which is didn't do on purpose for the sake of interpretation. The more you think about the film the better it seems to you, if you just watch it you probably won't enjoy it as much. This movie does open up a lot of room for discussion on what happened in the film. If you are open to a movie about affect of war on people and how it changes/divides them, with a neutral party being involved watch this, but if not I wouldn't recommend this.

• Good movie, sad story

  Valter772018-05-08

  It's actually a good movie. It's not like those cheap horror films with strange sounds and flashing scenes, but story about serious event - Bosnian genocide that took place during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War and its aftermath. People who are not familiar with this part of European history may not be able to fully understand this story. I fully disagree with @saba_waqar that you should not watch this movie.

• A compelling premise that misses the mark.

  soraprint2018-05-29

  The Maus is a well-shot, atmospheric thriller/drama, that starts with a compelling premise. Unfortunately the film misses the mark, with an overlong runtime compared to the story itself. It has some very tense moments, and the first act does a good job in building tension. The third act begins the letdown, and what would have been a 3rd act climax is achieved at about the 60 min mark. What follows is 30 min of drama that whilst interesting, becomes tedious. Many reviews have commented that this should not be classified as horror, and this is correct. If you watch the film expecting horror movie you will be disappointed. The characters and acting were acceptable, but they were let down by the plot that was not as coherent as it should have been. This would have been a better film if limited to 40-50min and ending with the climax in act 2. Otherwise, more action and twists are required to keep our attention. The final scene is confused, and rather than opening up to our interpretation, we are left with a feeling that the movie is trying to say too much without actually articulating what it wants to convey. I would love to see this concept redone either as a short film, or with additional plot in a feature length movie. As it is, however, it is an overall disappointment. The positives: Good scenery and characters. The forest setting was both open and expansive, whilst also feeling closed and oppressive. The threat of landmines kept the protagonists from simply running away, and helped to maintain tension. The negatives: Pacing and plot. This was slow when it did not have to be. The initial act was paced well as we expect slow reveals and a more subdued pace in the expectation of a twist. However, the pace remained slow and never built to satisfying crescendo. Genre. The film, at different times, feels like a horror, a drama, and a thriller. This can be an entertaining combination, but not when different scenes seem not to know how they fit into the overall movie. Also, by ending as drama, the tension is removed, and this is not relieving but frustrating.