Watching the German film A YOUNG MAN WITH HIGH POTENTIAL, I can't help but be reminded of the 1982 film TRANCE, aka DER FAN. This film is essentially a gender-swap version of that, albeit made without all of the substance and style that made the 1980s version so morbidly engrossing (and rewatchable). What we're left with here is random explicit and unwanted sexuality, a repulsive lead character, low budget, low-fi filmmaking, and a generally depressing air. I'm really not sure why anybody would want to sit through a film like this, because it has nothing to recommend it above pure sadism and cod psychology.

A Young Man With High Potential: A dark thriller which segues into horror as a comedy of errors overwhelms a computer geek. Piet (Adam Ild Rohweder) is a nerdish computer science student, reclusive, fears even the slightest social interaction, depending on webcam girl Kylie for stimulation. So he flees when another student, Klara (Paulina Galazka),suggests they become partners on an informatics project but she perseveres They actually get on well but he mistakes friendliness for attraction Rebuffed he is devastated and makes dark plans. But when Klara calls to his apartment happenstance progresses his plans. Disaster strikes for Klara though. We then descend into bloody horror and one blunder after another. Literally the darkest of comedies. We know from the beginning of the film that all is not well as Piet is confronted by a private investigator Ketura (Amanda Plummer) hired by Klara's family. Elements of Mr Robot merge with slasher tropes as writer Anna de Paoli and director Linus de Paoli give us a lean (89 minutes duration) mean feature which will have you pondering upon what you've watched long after the final credits roll. 8/10.

This is a special movie. It comes from a particular place in the human psyche. A dark place; a tender place.

It's hard to quite know how to make sense of this movie when you're finished with it. It's not dense or moralistic, even if there is a little bit of moral philosophy in its dialogue. It's neither pretentious nor essay fodder.

It's a strange, quiet nightmare that is physically formidable but also touches, on an abstract level, things we don't want to think about. Watching this, one desperately wants to say "No, that could never be me. I'm not like that, I'm not like him, I just wouldn't do that". And maybe you're right, but you still watch, desperate to see the outcome and at the same time, dreading it.

The first act builds with an eerie feather touch, just developing its characters and its set up so you feel like you could be either of them. Then a few simple but unfortunate twists of fate create an experience that no one is ready for emotionally.

It is not easy to watch. We get a lot of macabre movies out there. As much as I like horror done well I'm not sure I'd call this a horror movie. This is something both better and worse than a horror movie in the familiar sense. On a physical and psychological level, this confronts us with raw reality in a way that's often hard to be grateful for.

It has a sense of humor when it needs it. It lets you feel pathos and terror. I was in suspense until the end credits. Every note in this movie is perfectly judged. They even do the begin-at-the-end-thing in a way that give you credit as a viewer. No "three months earlier" nonsense.

A movie that couldn't be more mature in every sense of the term but it never speaks down to its audience. It seeks to stimulate emotions more than the intellect but is still very clever.

It will take away a piece of innocence you didn't know you still had.