The House That Jack Built (2018) Review

"If you feel like screaming, I definitely think that you should."

-Jack

Jack (Matt Dillon) is on a journey with another man called Verge (Bruno Ganz).  Along the way, Jack tells Verge stories about his life and reveals he is a serial killer.  The film shows five important incidents in Jack's life that all have to do with various murders before we finally see where Jack and Verge are headed on their journey.

What Works:

This is a Lars von Trier film.  The man has a...distinct reputation.  Now, this is the first Lars von Trier film I have ever seen, so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect.  Having come out the other side, I can say I really enjoyed the film, but it is certainly not for everyone.  Five people walked out of my screening.  It's a very funny film, but it's also extremely dark and disturbing.  There are many moments that difficult to watch.  The film as a whole is entertaining, but very unsettling.

Matt Dillon is phenomenal as Jack and gives the character a lot of depth.  He's tremendous in every single scene he is in and gives a terrifying performance.  Jack can be extremely charming, but a second later become the scariest person you will ever meet.  

As with many serial killer movies, some of the subject matter can be a bit derivative.  We've seen and heard all of this before in a hundred other movies.  We have a self-righteous, narcissistic killer with no empathy.  Been there, done that.  What helps keep this film in check is the character of Verge.  Between each of the segments, we hear Verge and Jack talking while various images flash across the screen.  During these "act-breaks", Verge calls Jack out on his B.S. multiple times.  Verge voiced what I think most of the audience was thinking and it was a smart addition to the film, but not perfect, which I will get too later.

I think the order that Jack told his stories was also very helpful to the film.  The first segment gets us to sympathize with Jack as the person he murders is pretty awful.  The second segment is dark, but played for comedy.  It's by far the funniest part of the film and is genuinely hilarious, if morbid.  Having these two segments first allows the audience to at least somewhat like our main character.  But in the third segment we get to see more of Jack's crimes and they are played straight.  It's brutal and heart-wrenching, but then we get the 4th segment, which is Jack at his most vile.  This is the segment everyone walked out during.  It's horrific and miserable.  If the film had started here, no one would have ever been able to feel anything but disgust for Jack.  It's a great structure to tell the story and I really appreciate that.

Finally, the epilogue of the movie is simply bonkers.  It has some incredibly imagery and is drastically different from the rest of the film.  Even though we were nearing the end, I was still wholly engaged in what was happening and the final scene is very intense.

What Sucks:

As I mentioned, I did have a problem with the breaks between Jack's stories.  The different segments were all very engaging, but the breaks took me out of the film and they got very pretentious.  Some of the stuff Jack was rambling about got old quickly.  It was nice hearing Verge tell him to shut up, but I wish it had happened sooner.

Verdict:

The House That Jack Built is a deeply disturbing film that also manages to be very funny and extremely engaging.  The story structure helps the audience to connect on some level with a reprehensible main character, Matt Dillon gives a fantastic performance, and the finale is so drastically different that you can't help but be roped back in.  The film is too pretentious at times and this is definitely not for the faint of heart, but if you think you can handle how disturbing it gets, I would recommend checking this one out.  As far as I'm concerned, The House That Jack Built has absolutely got it going on.

 9/10: Great