MICHAEL

"A triumph of uneasy cinema: Not since Todd Solondz's Happiness has a movie portrayed pedophilia in such uncomfortable detail." - indieWIRE

A hard-working employee in an insurance firm, Michael leads an ordinary life, with an average car, a nice house and a nice normal girlfriend who lives abroad. Except she doesn't exist, and neither does his ordinary life. Instead, Michael has a ten-year-old boy named Wolfgang locked in his basement.

Michael is the chilling and ambitious debut feature from filmmaker Markus Schleinzer. With a story ripped straight from the headlines, the film follows five months in the life of a paedophile and his prisoner, exploring the unsettling normalcy of a man who is secretly a monster.

Michael deeply divided audiences when it screened in Cannes, and is certain to do the same here.

Contains scenes that may disturb

D/S Markus Schleinzer P Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Markus Glaser, Michael Kitzberger, Wolfgang Widerhofer WS Les Films du Losange L German w/English subtitles TD 35mm/2011