There are dark films and then there’s The Treatment. Every shot, scene and sequence is drenched, drowned and encapsulated in impenetrable darkness. Nick Cafmeyer, played by excellent Belgian actor Geert Van Rampelberg, stands in one claustrophobic close-up after another, haunted by his work – and by his past. Families are handcuffed to radiators, slowly wasting away in their own filth. A dog is beaten to death in a bathroom. Video screens flicker with the rape of nameless children.
The tough and determined Inspector Cafmeyer obsesses over the kidnapping of a local boy in a case that’s all too familiar to his own childhood; his eight-year-old brother was abused and kidnapped by a child molester. The man he accused of the crime, but was never found guilty, sends Cafmeyer letters on his birthday, tormenting what’s left of his bitter soul.
Colour me impressed by the top notch acting, writing, editing and direction. This film shows one of the closest visions of hell I’ve seen, but does that mean I enjoyed it? At times like these, I can only turn to similar films to try and sort through my feelings. The Silence of the Lambs. Seven. Prisoners. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Each one of them classic in their own right. But The Treatment? I’m not so sure.
Those other films may have lacked hope at times, but they definitely had humanity. Characters that helped the audience make sense of the violence and the torture, the murders and pain. Here we have a film so uncompromising in its dramatic weight, it caves in on itself. Do you want to know how deep the rabbit hole goes? This one doesn’t have a bottom.