Playground (2016) User Reviews

Dreadful ...

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 9 February 2018]

... but is it good? Well it's very well made. And you can argue that the acting is really good. It almost feels too real. As in documentary real and painful in a way that you are inside the whole thing, watching some despicable characters and some very awful things happening too. Of course kids will be kids as they say, but how much can they get away with? And how much or how far do they go? It's not that the movie has answers to all the questions.

We have a couple of kids who have their own worries and their own lifes. We get to see how they are at home and how they act when they are at school (and with friends). So while I cannot stress out enough, that this movie might feel slow and dragging to some, not to mention a bit dark (to put it mildly), it is also very well made. So if you are into arthouse and real life cinema ... this is it.

Only for the kids

[igordinhokawaiidesu · 7/10 · 10 February 2020]

From the director contribuition in this movie we only get an ugly and uninspired cinematografy based on shock value to get divulgation of his first full lengh movie did before by Srdjan Spasojevic (Serbian film). If you like well acted movies and don't care about how the movie looks like, the kids will not disappoint you. Only the plot-twist got attention by Bartosz M. Kowalski (director) leaving the other scenes a boring feeling.

A masterpiece?

[nestor-trujillo · 16 January 2018]

I. "There's no hope to be had in humanity, not even in children. I haven't been this torn apart, this disturbed, this uncomfortable since 'Irreversible' but at least I felt the soul and heartbreak behind that film, not the cold emptiness I feel now. A great film but I sincerely don't think I can rate it."

The above blurb is of my initial reaction to the latest transgressive Polish film "Plac Zabaw" (or "Playground" in English-speaking countries), which I wrote on Letterboxd upon exiting the Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles. I'm tempted to leave it as such but after sitting on it for a month I think it's worth a try to "recommend" or, at least, talk about this film in the hopes that someone may see it (if you can, since it seems finding a copy of this film is near impossible at the moment).

II. Playground can be called many things: "Irreversible" meets "Kids", social commentary, even "awful garbage", which was said by the two other people with me in the theater as they walked out. One of them was in tears. A testament to the film's power I think lies in the fact that it is able to draw such a reaction. Mind you, this is no "I Spit on Your Grave" trying to make money out of its shock appeal. At least, I don't think it is. Truth be told, a month has passed and I'm still on the fence over whether this film is art or exploitation. It is filled with both subtle and gratuitous violence, mostly unmotivated, wholly unexplained. There is something to be said about the three children it follows and their distinct class divisions. There is something to be said about the cruelty of childhood. There is something to be said about Polish youth today (recalling the right-wing youth protests in Poland last year). There is something to be said about poverty, media, humanity... but what does it all mean? These, I think, are crucial topics - not whether the film is violent, despicable, exploitative or this and that - whose conclusions viewers should reach themselves.

III. To briefly touch on the technical side, the film is certainly beautifully shot and uniquely structured and edited, making for a fine piece of European arthouse cinema. It is also riddled with symbolism and moments of quiet surrealism, in particular a fly which, not without purpose, found its way to the film's cover poster (I wonder what that could mean?).

IV. One final note, I remember reading a little review of "Playground" that said: "You don't have to acquiesce to this kind of filmmaking. 'Oh but you're angry! It succeeded!' Cool, so rush hour traffic is now cinema. Good to know." My response to this is (1) it's impossible to equate the shock and anger this movie generates to the trivial and solvable frustration of rush hour traffic and (2) they are absolutely, no one needs to acquiesce to this kind of filmmaking, the right is yours, but those who choose to do so may indeed find a truly rewarding experience.

Based on the murder of James Bulger

[taratoxic · 4/10 · 25 February 2020]

This film was loosely based on the real life kidnapping and brutal torture/murder in England, of 2-year old James Bulger in 1993...by two 10-year old boys. The end footage of the CCTV video, of the two boys walking with the child, is really how it happened and the rest of the movie, although filmed at a distance, depicts the horrible things they did to this poor boy. He was beaten, tortured, sodomized and bludgeoned to death. More details surrounding the case can be found with a simple internet search... RIP precious James...

Dear lord, don't watch this...

[coursey693 · 8/10 · 5 May 2019]

Here's another rambling, mess of a review.

I've seen every disturbing movie that exists except for two famous/infamous films that we all know. With that qualification, this movie is at least in my top ten sick-to-my-stomach films I've ever seen.

I like to go into movies knowing as little as possible about them. I watched this movie based on a one or two sentence description. It could have been a short film for all I knew (no duration was listed). Imagine my surprise at what I found. It was the perfect storm. I suppose I'm lucky. Since I watch films hoping to actually feel something, I won the lottery. I can only hope that some of you view this movie as I did, with no preconceptions or ideas of what to expect. After everything that we have seen, this is what many people search for; this feeling of being utterly stunned.

At this moment, there are four reviews. Against all IMDb odds, all four are accurate, valid, and, for the most part, spoiler-free. This film is art. How many filmmakers would love to be able to make the audience feel as terrible as I feel after watching this movie? I'm sure most horror movies try, but how many are successful? You can't just show crazy violence and expect this reaction. Some might portray some graphic or gruesome act that might make you look away or cringe, but not the gut-punch of this movie.

Well done, movie making people.

Be warned

[wojciech_mar · 9/10 · 9 May 2017]

This film by a young Polish director, continues the great releases from this country over the last few years. I could mention a few titles that have been released but wont as it will take up too much space here. Polish cinema is going through a golden age, but I fear that the world has not woken up to it, and it is basically unknown except to certain cinema professionals. In this film two boys have problems at home relating to home-care that has been forcibly placed on them. One has to care for his invalid father and the other has to sleep in the same room with his crying infant brother. These boys of around 12 years of age, later mentally torture a female classmate who has an infatuation with one of them. In the last chapter something extraordinary happens that would be distressing to all viewers. Be warned. As for the making of this film, the visuals (very raw, showing the ugliness of Poland town life), the connections with chapter headings, the tension, acting, narrative, plot, etc. make it a gem of a film, and one that you will never forget. I've taken one star off for the not so clear dialogue by the young boys and for the disturbing theme. Therefore a nine.

My first ever review and the reason for my "10" rating

[saylos · 10/10 · 18 September 2020]

I've just finished watching "Playground", so forgive me if I'm more than a little shaken. For the purpose of background, I am a huge horror fan. It's my preferred genre, and one that I spend more time than is probably healthy watching.

Playground is not what I'd call a horror film. In fact, it's not even a film that I can, in good conscience, recommend to anyone.

It is a horror film in the sense that what transpires is horrific, but it's not ghosts and goblins or inexplicably immortal slashers. What transpires is horrific because it is real. No, this isn't a snuff film, though it is based on a very real case that other reviewers have touched on.

I am no lightweight. I've seen just about anything you can imagine in the realm of fictional violence. I've always stopped short of anything depicting cruelty towards real people.

Heed my warning when I say that this movie is not one you should enter into blindly. Do some research first, for God's sake, and make sure you're braced for what is to come.

I gave this a "10" because it truly horrified me. I'm so unnerved that I'm trembling as I write this. It's a "10" because this is the world we've created, a world where this kind of horror is all-too commonplace. A world devoid of empathy. I gave this a "10" because maybe some people need to be made to watch this. Maybe some people need to bear witness to what they've made.

Harrowing and heartbreaking.

[ocosis · 8/10 · 11 February 2020]

Just watched Plac Zabaw (Playground), and I'm still reeling from an ending that I didn't see coming. I went into this movie blind, but expected something dark, mainly from the ad art etc. But the final act of this movie is just heavy, brutal and stunning. But it's handled so delicately, so matter of factly, that even that becomes disturbing.

Plac Zabaw is a horror film in the true sense.

Powerful film.

[holmcindy · 9/10 · 13 July 2020]

I'm glad I had the chance to watch this one time. I never want to watch it again.

Shocking

[cartnett · 10/10 · 21 November 2016]

The plot is talking about last day at school three of 12-years old teenagers coming from different families. The director slowly showed us their worlds. You feel that in some moment something it's gonna happened but you don't know what it's gonna be... The final of this story is shocking, very strong and what is more scary- based on the real story.I have never seen in my life more stronger final of the movie.Film only for adults. Director is asking about the roots of evil and we he showed us that even children are not free from them. From the other side Bartosz M. Kowalski has touched the problem so often not absent, overworked parents who have no idea how really looks like the life of their own kids.

Very dood direction, cinematography and symbolism

[mswseashore · 8/10 · 12 October 2022]

I usually don't like to read subtitles but the director actually spoke through the images on the screen. So much of human behavior is rooted in childhood experiences. Anger, poor self-esteem, loneliness all have their beginnings early on. How you negotiate these feelings is the journey. In those bleak streets of that Polish town hope for these lids was limited. This was seen in the symbolism ; The preoccupation with the bathrooms, the annoying fly, teasing the dog, the escalator , the foreshadowing as the townspeople in the streets were frozen, the escalating violence and I could go on. Perhaps one of the most interesting scenes was the end when the director moved from a prolonged distance shot to up close when the two boys looked almost normal as they began their summer vacation . You could spend hours discussing this film which is for me a measure of Art.

The most brutal, sicking movie ever made!

[ntj-film · 9/10 · 14 May 2021]

As a connoisseur of all things sick and twisted, I feel confident in proclaiming this film the most vile and horrifying I've ever seen. It's also absolutely brilliant, which makes it all the more devastating.

You really need to do a little research before you jump in, because this isn't A Serbian Film or Human Centipede II exploitation, it's social realism, heart of Darkness type stuff and it kicks like a steroid injected mule.

I've never felt as empty or lost watching a film as I did watching this one.

You have been warned.