Cannibal

Cannibal is a formally disciplined character study that deliberately withholds almost everything the genre usually delivers, and how much that withholding works for you will determine how much you get out of it. Manuel Martin Cuenca opens with twelve nearly wordless minutes establishing Carlos's routine, and that patience defines the entire film, which is more interested in isolation and repressed longing than in violence or suspense. Antonio de la Torre carries the film on a controlled, internalized performance that makes Carlos's lack of remorse feel unsettling in its quietness rather than its cruelty. The pacing is glacial by design and the title promises a very different kind of movie than the one delivered, which will frustrate anyone expecting conventional horror. Curious viewing for fans of art-house psychological drama who don't mind a title that oversells the horror considerably.