The Elephant (2023) User Reviews

Exceptional storytelling, but be warned...

[bjornehageman · 9/10 · 1 June 2023]

From the opening shot to the closing credit I knew I made the right choice in seeing this film. There was alot of chatter about the film at the 2023 festival, and I wasn't disappointed.

This was NOT to be dismissed as a slasher film or a buddy cop story, it was completely engrossing and it felt like I was watching a behind the scenes look at criminal investigation and an underground cult film combined.

Beautifully shot, tight editing, sharp dialogue (when there was dialogue) and a perfect musical score made this film immersive and gut wrenchingly tense.

*SPOILER ALERT* I thought the love story that emerged from the blood soaked crime scenes between The Elephant and his gorgeous captive was perfectly revealed. And using the song 'Come Find Me' by Emile Haynie was chilling when the anti-heros identity is revealed.

The final showdown between the FBI and The Elephant was masterful and shocking. It was like watching an army trying to stop a GHOST. Loved it!!

A Smart and Vicious Thriller

[gailklausner · 8/10 · 5 June 2023]

This film, The Elephant felt more like a documentary than a movie and I was timid to see it, but my husband convinced me to attend the screening when it debuted in Switzerland.

This was an experience rather than a screening from the opening scene to the final scene. I was surprised at the depth a film could go with very little dialogue, but I found the film unlike any other murder mysteries.

The first scene opens on a home surrounded by police tape and several police officers bent over vomiting and hiding their faces while a low bass musical score follows the back of a detective toward the home. He is handed a pair of latex gloves and booties for his shoes by a visibly shaken police officer and the detective enters the home.

This opening immediately drew me into the film. No dialogue, just eerily ominous music and various characters nodding speechlessly at the unseen face of the detective, who then walks up the stairs...

This opening alone let me know that this film was going to terrify me, and did it ever deliver! That was exactly the sort of tension this film was able to achieve.

As the film unfolded I was completely engaged and on the edge of my seat. From this opening to the final 40 minute climax of the FBI confrontation in the mountainous wilderness of the elusive 'Elephant' was brain twisting!

Very, very gory throughout, but cut together with a finesse that never let up on the investigation and finding this murderer. Amazing music and visually authentic, The Elephant was excellent!

Very dark and too violent, but very engaging

[deitermoss · 7/10 · 1 June 2023]

This movie was way too violent for my taste, and felt too long, but what kept me in my seat was the story of the 2 investigators. This was very well written and a great look into those that investigate crime. This was a detective story for me, although much of it is very dismall to watch.

The way the movie was shot was like a documentary of True Crime, as the lawmen get closer and closer to solving the killings and finding the elephant.

I also really liked the relationship that develops between the murderer and the kidnapped woman that was very sweet at times, but then the movie rips you out of those tender moments back into the investigation.

Breing pushed and pulled in so many ways was frustrating, but I think that was the point.

I liked most the 2 crime fighters. The conclusion of the movie was fresh and totally unexpected which is something I really liked about it. Its worth seeing at least once. But stay away if your stomach is weak.

A Very Good Film All Around

[kinokritik-deutschland · 8/10 · 17 June 2023]

The Elephant - Written/Produced/Directed by Kirk Langer is an excellent film, where its flaws are merely budgetary in nature. For an independent production, it rivals films with larger financing and wider viewing availability.

It calls to mind films like 'Man Bites Dog', 'A Serbian Film', 'Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer' and the works of Gaspar Noe for its hyper-daring depictions of violence. However, as a narrative depiction, it is not displays of murder merely for shock value, but has a unique vision where the intensity of bloodshed is absolutely necessary.

Its documentary-like style of storytelling is authentic and immersive for a clever audience that carries the film, and keeps the viewer engaged. The selection of music is excellent and never tries to evoke emotions by manipulation, but is the backdrop that sets the tone perfectly for each scene.

Very well done, using the compositions from '2 Steps From Hell', 'Come Find Me' by Emile Hainy, 'Promises' by Ben Howard, 'Avalanche' by Aimee Mann, '9 Crimes' by Damien Rice, the works of Passenger and 'Song To The Siren' by This Mortal Coil, to name a few. Perfectly selected by the director himself.

The Elephant is really two films in one, that suddenly collide for a 40 minute third act, that is a heart-pounding, gory, and tense. Very well filmed and edited.

'The Elephant' will no doubt find an audience that will appreciate what has been done here. It is bold, authentic, engrossing and a supurb effort for a first feature film by a virtually unknown crew of filmmakers.

• KinoKritic, Deutschland.

Glorifies violence and is morally empty

[filmgoblin · 6/10 · 2 June 2023]

This film should be burned. I saw nothing in it that was morally uplifting or redemptive. It glorifies violence, no matter the justification for it, making it bloody for the sake of violence. I see that many disagree with me, but I sat for three hours shifting in my seat feeling uncomfortable.

The only thing I did like about it was the majestic shots of the Canadian Rocky Mountains and the forest below, filled with life and innocence. It felt very much like a portrait of Eden. But just like Eden there was a snake in it, that corrupted it, drawing two parallel worlds. I thought it was strange that this is where the antagonist chose to live, while spreading bloody havoc into the streets. Maybe this was a metaphor by the filmaker, but to me, it was just over the top violence.

Original - Deeply Engaging and Bloody!

[cinemareview-29970 · 9/10 · 4 June 2023]

'The Elephant' cannot be categorized into a specific genre, because it is really 2 films in one.

With a running time of 160mins, if you cut the film in half and re-edited, you have a completely engrossing and authentic film about criminal investigation and the other, a savage, blood soaked murder frenzy that would only be seen at midnight showings or the Avant-garde underworld of independent film.

By combining the two films we get the marvelous and daring film that it is. Excellent editing combines two worlds and we as an audience are taken on one hell of a ride.

Set during the Covid Pandemic, where everyone is masked and afraid, only adds to the choas of finding a serial killer in an ocean of Global uncertainty.

When Covid-19 breaks out, so does 'The Elephant' begin his rampage of murder and savagery. What the law-enforcement team does not realise is that they are not seeking to find a random serial killer, unknown to them when they begin, these murder victims are targeted and not random at all. But what is the link? And why was a woman kidnapped rather than killed?

'The Elephant' is a recluse who lives in the mountainous and forested outback of the mountains and his only family is a pack of grey-wolves that share the same habitat and live as a familial group based on respect and peaceful co-existence.

The law-enforcement duo are perfect together with moments of levity and shared insight that is only hindered by the jurisdictional barriers and the hustled chaos of a Global crisis.

This mirrors the strangely sweet relationship that develops from fear to affection between 'The Elephant' and his beautiful captive, and is actually quite emotional to watch.

The reveal of who 'The Elephant' is, and why he hasn't harmed her, is drawn out of him only by the genuine intrigue and interest of the lovely woman, who grows to no longer fear him.

Excellent acting, sharp dialogue, beautiful cinematography, tight intersecting editing and a perfect musical score make 'The Elephant' a stand out film.

The last act of this film where the law closes in to capture 'The Elephant' and free his "hostage" is one of the most exciting, labyrinthian sequences filmed in a long time.

Technology versus nature and purpose versus duty collide into an unforeseen climax that keeps the viewer completely engaged for 40 solid, blood-soaked minutes!

Shot on a shoe-string Budget of only 12 million Euros, every penny is on the screen, and certainly worth the eight bucks in your pocket. Keep an eye out for this film and this writer/director. 'The Elephant' is the juice thats worth the squeeze!

A Very Disturbing Mystery

[hansgrainer · 7/10 · 14 May 2023]

The Elephant is daring, engrossing and extremely violent. The dangerous thing about the violence is its realism and documentary style of filming.

Those scenes felt like snuff film segments, but that is what makes it so effective. But apart from that, the story is very well constructed with good performances from the actors, which apparently the director chose because they were unknown and new to the public eye lending to the sense of authenticity.

Sharp dialogue keep the film moving and the fact that much of the film contains no diologue at all. The film is told mainly with what you are seeing rather than loads of characters talking.

The music score and brilliant editing make the film wonderfully beautiful when the film shifts into the secluded mountains and The Elephants domain.

The Elephant is a mixture of 'Se7en' 'The Night Stalker' series on Netflix and 'The 2015 film 'The Survivalist'.

The conclusion of the film leaves you stumbling and baffled with a head-spinning revelation that is audibly shocking.

The violence will turn some people away, but its a tightly constructed narrative, and an excellent look into criminal investigation and a disturbing look inside the mind of a murderer.

Bold and Bloody!!

[liamandros · 8/10 · 31 May 2023]

Not what I expected at all. Saw this at the festival in Switzerland and again in Germany. Both times were stomach churning, thought proking and unltimately satisfying.

The Elephant is a bizarre mixture of disjointed but still linear narrative story-telling that scrambles the mind.

Its depictions of violence are nearly unwatchable in the authentic way thay are portrayed, (especially a ferocious 7 minute sequence where certain audience members left the theatre) the juxtaposed with the beautiful cinematography of the recluse mountainous habitat of The Elephant, a beautiful musical score, the film is quite remarkable.

At nearly 3 hours in length it moves surprising quickly, and catapults us into an ending that is so shockingly twisted and revelatory where audible gasps are heard in the theatre. The final reveal of The Elephant with his hostage and law enforcement is jaw-dropping, marvelous and completely unique!!

A Serial Murder Mystery that is Mind-Bending

[thesilkroad · 7/10 · 14 May 2023]

A disturbing look into the mind of a seemingly psychopathic and brilliant killer as well as the jurisdictional bureaucracy, and frustration of law enforcement investigation.

Minimal dialogue, a remarkable musical score and completely engrossing cinematography and sound design.

Filmed entirely handheld, "The Elephant" is pure Cinéma vérité, and has a feeling of complete authenticity, as if the audience is watching a documentary rather than a work of fiction.

With a running time of 160mins, the tight editing keeps the viewer totally engaged in what seem to be two films combined. Between the investigation and the macabre world of the 'The Elephant', the films climax is a twisted Gordian Knot that unravels on its own and is both insightful and is ultimately a cautionary tale for all of us.

Good film, but waaaay too violent!

[cinemasweden · 6/10 · 3 July 2023]

'The Elephant' is a very good film. However loses me as an audience, simply because of the violence. There are extremely violent films, but it was this films 'depiction' of violence that turned me off as viewer. It was too realistic and authentic in the way it was filmed, making it, in certain scenes, almost unwatchable.

A scene that was 7 minutes long (which the director refused to cut) was so over the top and realistic many audience members left the theatre. That's why it loses stars from this reviewer.

It had a surreal, depressive, hopeless feel through out, which was the same feeling I felt watching the Todd Phillips 2019 film 'Joker'.

When the film goes into the forested mountains, is where the real revelations are found about the elephant, and I did like the law enforcement duo, there was excellent chemistry there.

It was a smartly written crime/detective story with very good twists and turns, no clichés and very well done. The last 40 minutes was a film inside a film and was pure tension.