Ben X

At start, it was looking promising with MMORPG theme but It was totally worse than I expected. An effort meant to be significant and touching but have failed completely from very first start to end of it.

I must say that this film was a lot better than I expected it to be. Since at one point in my life I was playing an mmorpg game as well to escape reality and having gotten addicted to it for quite some time, I can say that the film portrays this merge between fantasy and reality very well. In particular I remember a scene where Ben envisions slaughtering his bullies with the weapons from his online character... The one thing I didn't like that much is the weird plot line towards the end.

More of an awkward moral statement than a functioning drama.

Debuting director Balthazar does an excellent job portraying an autistic kid who is bullied and looks fore a safe haven in the world of online gaming. I went to the cinema with quite low expectations (Belgian films...) but I was blown away completely.

Biggest flaws: The plot twist is way over the top and hard to believe & the main character's idiotic rhymes during the voice-overs were a bit annoying from time to time. But I have to say it was very well made, it looked really good and there were a few great performances by the lead characters. Hoedje af!

(2nd viewing) The film never follows a straight narrative path, but rather intoxicates the audience with its sappy study about autism. The performances are pretty campy (Verlinden is likeable though) and the cinematography together with its narration are indeed headache inducing. I liked the music and its approach on video games in general, a medium that many people see as a form of escapism. This is anoher film I liked a while back. I hope Balthazar's next film will be a commendable one.

Why this doesn't deserve an applause or award: 1. the voice-over was irritating, especially the far too often used word games 2. the camera movents and photography were not consistent, at one point this at another that 3. the ending, WTF? I'm amazed there we're no reports of brutality towards mr. Balthazar because of the plot twist. ... Belgium and international benchmarking has always been a problem. (I do appreciate a movie critic for once actually taking matters in their own hands)

come on!

04 Ocak 09, 02:51am. & normal insanlar arasina girebilmenin sahtekarliktan ve yalan soylemekten olacagini ogrenen, asperger sendromulu gencin, yer yer sinir bozan hikayesi. filmin ortalarinda cok fazla geriyor - zorluyor seyirciyi. fakat sonunda sigur ros ile hos bi intikam iyi olmus. empati yeteneginiz yuksekse veya filmdeki basroldekine benzer bir karakteriniz varsa cok etkilenebileceginiz bir yapim. vermek istedigi mesaji da cok guclu bir sekilde vermeyi basarmis.

Ters köşe film. Sadece park sahnesinde ileri sardım. Gerçek olaydan alıntı dense de gerçek olaydan farklı işlenmiş.

I must say that this film was a lot better than I expected it to be. Since at one point in my life I was playing an mmorpg game as well to escape reality and having gotten addicted to it for quite some time, I can say that the film portrays this merge between fantasy and reality very well. In particular I remember a scene where Ben envisions slaughtering his bullies with the weapons from his online character... The one thing I didn't like that much is the weird plot line towards the end.

Definitely the best film based on the theme of a unfitting kid bullied by his peers I've seen. It doesn't resort to simplistic katharsis effect in order to make an impact and introduces fresh ideas to the genre. It's quite interesting to watch our Asperger syndrom antihero try to implement online game approaches into a real life, as well as copy normal behaviour as the unexpected but still quite plausible ending the author has come up with.

Okay Movie

A rather sappy and one-note "autism awareness/bullying is bad" pity party. Much less clever and existential than its big double twist ending would like you to believe. The lead actor's performance consists entirely of being so nervous he appears to be on the verge of shitting himself.

To mix autism and schizophrenia isn't smart, in my opinion. It's not the same. And I didn't like the religious, very pathetic parts.

Portrait of an oppressive struggle with autism is well-handled initially, with Timmermans' nearly unbearably intense performance making the evocation of the autistic's world convincing and empathetic. Becomes less convincing (and interesting) as it proceeds, contriving a somewhat melodramatic (and simplistic) plot about bullying and a potential IRL romance; Timmermans' intriguingly clammy performance could have supported a full-length character study.

Just a note: the "True events"... just a bit inspired, the story is absolutely original in almost everything. The idea is good and the mix with the videogame makes sense in several aspects. It's fine too the MMORPG treatment, not one of those horrible things in USA tv-series that has nothing to do with real ones. About autism/asperger treatment, not that good. I like some things here and there, and not that much the movie as a whole. Some parts work perfectly, but others just don't work at all.

Minor dutch 'issue' drama on autism and its social impact. The bullying is portrayed with suitable zeal and the lead's distorted grip on reality lends itself well to the computer game context. The twist is obvious and a little unnecessary but overall it makes a worthy effort

Rain man meets Dexter meets school bullies. Interesting output, dead man walks in the end (girl in red), but the very last image was lame and spoiled everything. Sure it was more positive that way and gave hope, but I did prefer dead man walks version. That the culmination point was real.

For some reason I was expecting a movie with Tobey Maguire, not a Belgium anti-hero drama. And I am speechless. The writing is almost poetic. I pity the non-Dutch/Belgium speaking viewers who have to read some kind of subtitled translation. They won't do it justice. I may be too old to understand the current school generation, but if it was up to me this would be mandatory viewing in middle school.

I really like integration of (real) videogame's elements into film. And not just some dialog about game but also whole scenes that fit along RL story. Secondly, technical side is almost flawless. Although 'Lady in Red' is used fairly good I expected more. In most movies this topic is used comically. Here is not and it's still great movie.

"Balthazar's aesthetic is ugly, aloof, maddeningly literal and unimaginative." - Ed Gonzalez

pretentious. mostly boring..

(...) Manchmal bricht mir Ben X fast das Herz, wenn die ganze Schulklasse Ben verspottet, der vergeblich versucht, sich zu wehren. In diesen Momenten ist Ben X aufrichtig und erschütternd - um dann wieder abzuschweifen. Immer, wenn die Gedankenwelt von Ben simuliert wird im Video Game, unterwandert der Film seine besten Szenen mit offensichtlichen Manierismen(...)

For the name of the movie "Ben X" ... it's a wordplay in dutch... "BenX", "Ben niks".... which would translate in english to "Am nothing".

ger; [Ben X]; ein autist lebt quasi in einem rollenspiel, da er in seiner schule regelmäßig schikane erleidet - doch es scheint einen ausweg zu geben.;

Some of it felt over exaggerated and corny, but what wasn't bad was pretty well done. I just wish they planned the last quarter of the film better.