Loverboy (I) (2017) User Reviews

I did not love this movie, but I liked it

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 24 September 2018]

"Loverboy" or "Ich gehöre ihm" is a German 1.5-hour movie from 2017, so still relatively new and this was directed by Thomas Durchschlag. The writers here are two females, which is appropriate given the subject. For Angel Giles, it was the first writing effort it seems and her colleague Ruth Olshan is a bit more experienced, but not that much either. Here we have the story of a young woman going through puberty and struggling with her life when a fateful encounter with a young man results into her hitting rock-bottom really. If you are interested in the subject of (forced) prostitution or interested in German films in general, also older ones, then maybe you have come across the Natalie Babystrich films starring Briest over 2 decades ago already and the subject there was sligthly different. It's about the life of the protagonist and how she ends up having sex with random strangers and being forced to do so, but also about how those close to her deal with this change in her friend's/daughter's/sister's/student's life. In order to make sure this film here does not fuel the intentions of those who act in a xenophobic manner, they did not only choose to make the main antagonist Turkish (or foreign at least), they also wrote the teacher who tries to help her that he comes from abroad, also Turkey I think. All in all, this was an intriguing film. There is even one moment where I felt it was great and I will not go into detail which I meant exactly, but it is subjective anyway and maybe you will mean exactly the same like myself. Or you will really like another moment. It's up to you. Apart from that, I also liked the ending that they did not go for a happy ending where all is suddenly fine again like so many (bad) (German) films do these days and when it feels it has nothing to do with reality, but is just for making the audience feel happy. But near the end, is also one weak moment, namely when they included a former customer of her in the sense of "you always meet twice" and that he is all of a sudden a police officer working exactly at the station where the girl is asked by the police. Sorry, but the world is not this small. But yeah, these are just minor criticisms. I think it was an intriguing watch and the references about actual loverboys, a really existing problem in society, also in other countries in Europe, not just Germany, make it even more interesting. The performances were convincing too. I liked the ways in which they depicted the impact on the parents' marriage and how they occasionally thought it was harmless and the trouble with her daughter was just due to her finding a boyfriend. If they actually decide to make a sequel at some point, which could be indicated by the ending (even if I don't believe it, then I think there is a good chance I would watch it. This one here gets a thumbs-up and I think you should check it out. Also worth for non-Germans to see if you can get your hand on a good set of subtitles.

Not a great art but should be mentioned topic

[sansaraa1229 · 3/10 · 1 September 2017]

It's not the greatest film I've ever watched but those young generation should watch it to avoid these situation. Human Trafficking is a big issue and it's filling up the pockets of drug addicts, polices, lawyers etc and financing all that dirty businesses directly and indirectly. It realistically shows how human traffickers choose their victims and how they threaten them and finally becoming their last choice because victim feels ashamed of her/his family, friends and all.

I feel so sad that we need to deal with this inhumane crimes at this century but I still believe world will be better place when people become less greedy.