The Act of Killing
Movie • 2012 • Documentary
ReportIn a place where killers are celebrated as heroes, these filmmakers challenge unrepentant death-squad leaders to dramatize their role in genocide. The result is a surreal, cinematic journey, not only into the memories and imaginations of mass murderers, but also into a frighteningly banal regime of corruption and impunity.
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Does someone attempt suicide?
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Abuse
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The murderers encourage children to participate in the reenactments of real crimes in which children were hurt and killed. We don't see much simulated violence toward children, but their reactions are more disturbing: some seem to treat it like a game, while others seem genuinely upset. There is one mention of girls as young as 14 being sexually abused.
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No physical violence, but there's a scene where a man angrily shouts at his wife
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Addiction
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There are mentions of using weed and ecstasy
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There's a scene of fishing and we see a caught fish flopping around, but nothing else (at least in the theatrical cut)
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Are animals abused?
246 supporters
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We see a duckling that was previously injured by a small child's carelessness, but the duck seems fine now. The child pets the duck and is told to be more gentle in the future. This film is all about cruelty to humans, but if animal abuse is your only trigger, there's nothing to be too concerned about.
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Assault
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There are no on-screen depictions, but in one scene a man describes how he raped women and girls while participating in massacres. It's brief and not very graphic, but for me one of the more disturbing moments of this (incredible and important) film.
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Is someone tortured?
101 supporters
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This film shows real-life torturers and murderers creating reenactments of torture/beatings, interrogations and killings that they participated in. The reenactments always seem obviously staged, never as "realistic" as torture scenes in a non-documentary film, so for me personally, this was less difficult to watch. At the same time, it's more emotionally impactful because you know that these people participated in these acts in real life. If torture scenes are triggering for you, be very cautious.
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Is there shaving/cutting?
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There are close-ups of a knife sawing into fake flesh (stage makeup that has been applied to someone's neck).
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Is there a hanging?
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Hanging as a method of execution is mentioned, but not depicted onscreen. Several staged reenactments of strangulation are shown, but not hanging.
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Children
Does a kid die?
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No child death is described in any detail, but there are mentions of whole villages being massacred (sometimes it's implied that children were spared, sometimes not). In a reenactment, children are shown lying down pretending to be dead, but no killing of children is explicitly shown onscreen.
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Family
Does a parent die?
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A man tells a true story about the death of his stepfather, who was like a father to him. In another scene, there's a reenactment of the massacre of a village, in which parents and children are killed.
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Fear
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Are there ghosts?
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Standing on an empty rooftop where many people were once murdered, a man remarks that there are many ghosts here. Later, someone wears a dark robe and black-and-white makeup to portray a ghost (it's not realistic-looking) in a staging of the murderer's nightmares.
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Gross
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Does someone vomit?
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In the very last scene, Anwar has a violent physical reaction to his memories of killing, gagging/vomiting in between saying a few sentences. This begins just after the 1 hour 50 minutes mark, and continues for about 3 minutes. After that he walks out of the building and credits roll at around 1:54. If you cannot stand vomiting you can stop the film at 1:50. (All this refers to the theatrical version, not the director's cut.) There is one earlier scene where Anwar makes gagging noises as someone holds up raw meat to his face, but he doesn't vomit in that scene.
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Does someone spit?
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In the very last scene, Anwar has a violent physical reaction to his memories of killing, gagging/vomiting (including spitting) and also seemingly farting loudly, in between saying a few sentences. This starts around 1:50 and continues until 1:53, after which he recovers and walks away and the film ends (all this refers to the theatrical version, not the director's cut). Earlier, there's one other moment where someone spits to indicate disgust.
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Does someone die by suicide?
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255)
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Does someone say "I'll kill myself"?
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255)
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Noxious
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Is there shakey cam?
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A minority of scenes seem to be filmed with handheld camera, most of the time it's steady.
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Paranoia
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Pregnancy
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No misgendering, but one of the "gangsters" dresses in drag for comedic purposes
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Is there hate speech?
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There are no slurs (at least not in the subtitles), but this film is full of people attempting to defend and justify genocide.
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Sex
Is there sexual content?
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Mentions of sexual assault, but no sexual content depicted onscreen
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Are there incestuous relationships?
National Sexual Assault Hotline 800.656.4673
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Sexism
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Social
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Vehicular
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One of the "gangsters" mentions that they sometimes killed people by running them over, but this is not depicted onscreen.
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Violence
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Is there blood/gore?
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There's blood and gore in some of the reenactments, but mostly it looks very fake. You see the actors having fake blood and stage-makeup wounds applied by makeup artists.
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