4 out of 5

Director: Uwe Boll

Poor Uwe Boll. After choosing the wrong crowd to piss off with trashy movies (the computer-savvy generation with his Z-grade video game films), he cannot get a chance to prove himself with some rather daring work, showing talent not only from a shooting perspective, but also in piecing together more complex themes via editing and style. Whether or not Stoic is based on a true story (as it claims to be) is besides the point – the relationship between the characters and the dialogue rings very true, and if not for Edward Furlongs semi-recognizable face, itd be easy to take this as real life. Stoic shows the events that take place in an isolated prison cell with four inmates, where a bet to eat a tube of toothpaste spirals out of control until one man ends up dead. The film highlights the confinement by only showing the four characters, as we see events unfold and then after the fact in interviews where we only hear the characters responses and not the questions. Stoic is very graphic, but not as much as could have been, again displaying Bolls restraint and talent with just trying to tell the story and not dwelling unnecessarily on the base bits. Some moments do get repetitive, and are profanity laced, but again, it comes across as very real. Suggested for anyone whos interested in a study of the primal nature of caged man. Some reviews report a cut-off ending – I believe this is how the film actually ends (no credits), which makes it more haunting.

*Update – …not how it actually ends.  WOMP.