Skunk

Liam grows up in a house governed by alcohol, violence and sex. The state removes him and places him in a youth facility. There is another problem there: children who have committed offences and children who are victims are put in the same place. Liam comes out of one harm into another, and to break with his past he goes past the line. Koen Mortier directs. The source is a book of the same name by the child psychiatrist Geert Taghon, and the narrative is based on real events. The target is the youth care system. The narrative proceeds not as an individual tragedy but as a trap the institution builds itself; holding the offender and the victim in the same corridor is at the centre. Mortier's manner is harsh. Violence and abuse are shown openly and the film leaves the viewer no distance, a choice present in his earlier work. His method of working with the young cast was also discussed; the crew shot the difficult scenes in pieces and in a way that kept the children from knowing the context. It was produced by Czar Film in Belgium with BALDR Film of the Netherlands. It is Mortier's fourth feature. Who it is for: viewers who take on hard European social drama and films that carry an institutional argument. Who it is not for: it is very hard to watch, the abuse is explicit, and the film offers no consolation at any point.