Calibre – Weidmannsunheil

Echt hart. Psychologisch genau, hervorragend ausgewogen. Eine einfache Prämisse der Handlung, langsam und schlau von einer sicheren Unruhe aufgebaut und eine sich zusammenziehende Schlinge bis zur harten Vergebung. (08.05.2020)

It's really difficult for me to review this film. On one hand, it offers a truly interesting plot (though not very believable!, especially the child in the forest, which after a while felt like an eyesore) set in the English countryside, which is just brimming with a pessimistic mood; on the other hand, it felt more like a television production that managed to get actors from shinier waters. The main acting duo managed to convince me with their excellent performances. However, their characters are another story; I didn't understand some of their decisions (but I get it, being in their situation, I'd be mentally drained with the worst depression of my life, but I’d probably report the tragic incident). What bothered me the most was the lack of realism. Yes, anything can happen, but deep in a remote forest, tens of kilometers away from the nearest inhabited point, you go hunting, and just as you shoot at a deer, a little boy appears behind it? When written this way, it seems more like sci-fi. The film stays above average with a good soundtrack, a dense atmosphere with gradual buildup towards a tense finale, and last but not least, the acting skills of everyone involved. I give it 68%. (16.07.2018)

An unexpected surprise from Netflix! Two friends go hunting in the Scottish woods, but nothing goes according to plan, and something terrible happens with even more fatal consequences. I really didn't envy the main characters in this situation, and it made me quite uncomfortable to imagine it happening to me. A rough forest, a harsh setting, uncompromising hicks, a thick atmosphere, an oppressive tension, a lot of realism and a shocking finale. For me total satisfaction, these redneck forest thrillers were rampant in the 80s and now they're more of an afterthought, so I applaud, good job by Netflix. 80%. (12.07.2018)

A very decent thriller, which, I don't know why, easily reminded me of our Czech Vendeta (2011). Maybe because of its intimate character. In addition, I didn't even know the actors here, and yet they still managed to create some proper suspense, which made me bate my breath for almost two hours. It has to be said that the premise doesn’t make much sense right from the start and had the central duo used their brains, it would have led to a better ending. On the other hand, it’s good that the plot unraveled the way it did because all the rest fulfilled the thriller template in an exemplary fashion – including the overly dramatic finale. (13.05.2020)

The theme of the film was excellent, the cast was perfect, and yet I can’t join in the general enthusiasm. The film was thrilling, the ending was far from predictable. The problem was that the creators stretched it out in such a long running time that the suspense got drowned in protracted boredom. At the end of the day, I realized that the fun/boredom ratio was more or less fifty-fifty, hence only three stars. (14.08.2020)