The Treatment (2014) (2025)

Popular reviews

• Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★★ 2

  Pedophilia is not a subject to be taken lightly, but there is an argument to be made that perhaps this film takes this a bit too far. This is a brooding and bleak murder mystery almost on the same level as The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo minus all the "cool" vibe of the Swedish or Fincher's adaptation. The story took a more raw turn, where the slow burn and slow unfolding may prove to be a challenge for many.

  The tone of this film in many ways makes it unique and sets it apart from the rest. Instead of the action, the film opts for a more psychological approach that at times reminded me more of what The Little…

• Review by 20oldboy03 ★★★½ 12

  English Version below🟠🟢🔵

  
  Er wohnt seit Jahren in einem Wohnwagen, als mein Liebhaber …

  
  Worte wie der Wurmstich, wie der kleine grüne Fleck als der Vorbote der multiplizierten Schimmelsporen, das Salz im Pudding, der Zucker in der Suppe, der Pfeffer im Schokoladenkuchen, der Zitronensaft im Kartoffelpüree, Worte die die guten einhundertzwanzig Minuten in „De Behandeling“, im deutschsprachigen Raum unter „Die Behandlung“ geläufig, einnehmen wie sie den Zuschauer einnehmen. Worte die über alles stehen wie der geworfene Schatten eines Berges, das Ziel für den Sprinter, der Lebenssinn mit der Don Justos Kathedrale für sein Erbauer Justo Gallego Martínez. Worte die nie ein Mensch je zu hören wagt, sie jemals als ein Gespenst in seinem Gehirn spucken lassen will, sie aus seinem…

• Review by Samuel Ribeiro ★★★★ 4

  There are several types of Horror subgenres, and I've seen practically all of them, but that doesn't invalidate the fact that, from time to time, I come across with something that, in its genesis, is not even Horror in its pure essence, but is nevertheless the most terrible and frightening thing that can exist and the one that really scares me: the pure evil that lives in some people.

  It's not easy for a movie that portrays pedophilia to give us moments of rest, because every punch that it throws at us, tends to stick in.
  And make no mistake: there are no happy places in this movie.
  The Sun truly never shines here, there are no sequences of pure…

• Review by Graham ★★★★

  'Disturbing' doesn't even come close, in an extreme crime thriller that centres on the kidnap, sexual abuse, slow torture and eventual murder of innocent young boys at the hands of a deranged paedophile.

  For Inspector Nick Cafmeyer, his police work has him closer than most to the pain of it all, and with his own family suffering a similar event years ago, every passing moment and piece of incoming evidence probes at his sanity, arousing the demons inside. His slow and lumbering existence is cut into pieces by sharp interludes of clarity, but he must go on in the search for the truth and an end to this horrific crime.

  For anyone that has experienced the nightmare fuel that is…

• Review by ChandraKanth❄ ★★★½

  A well made mystery, that takes its own time to unfold.
  A manhunt for a pedophile and a cop with a troubled past, that is somehow linked to the case he is dealing.
  The final reveal is unexpected.

• Review by césar c. ★★★ 1

  Mystic River + A Serbian Film = The Treatment

• Review by kat🕷 ★★★★

  That was a hard and dark thriller. I was able to easily overlook one or two plotholes, especially since the movie is told in a more exciting and uncompromising way than most of its genre counterparts from Hollywood.

• Review by Steph_h ★★★½ 4

  I googled best foreign psychological thrillers and found a list on IMDb. I’d seen about 90% of it and this is one of the few I hadnt.. Its a great list to I’ll add the link below..
  If you like gritty noir detective mysteries this was pretty good. It’s nothing incredibly new in terms of a procedural but it’s a well told one with good twists, gets kinda bloody and disturbing too..

  Best foreign psychological thrillers list
  www.imdb.com/list/ls033809339

• Review by Soumajit Nath ★★★★½

  A soul crushing experience that tears me to shreds and leaves me devastated for hours after sucking in all the faith, I had in humanity! Now I'm in a state of emotional numbness. And in this picturesque look into Boschian hell where innocents are the prime sufferers of the unthinkable crimes of an evil concierge, instead of shock here I feel ashamed. "Disturbing" isn't perhaps the right word to describe how disturbing this was all about! Believe me or not, this Belgian thriller is going to hit you real hard if you're able to stick to your seat till the very end. Following a riveting investigation around sexual abuses of neighborhood children by a boogeyman called Troll, it comes up…

• Review by 🇵🇱 Steve G 🐝 ½ 2

  The Letterboxd Era Catch Up 2: The Last Stand

  I honestly don't understand the appeal of a film like The Treatment at all.

  I more than understand anybody who loves lashings of violence and gore and so on, there's a visceral and aesthetic thrill in that which I can fully get on board with myself sometimes.

  But films like The Treatment are not like that. There's something dreadfully misanthropic about the whole sordid affair, wallowing around in piss and sperm and paedophilia and torture and murder and trauma. It's fucking horrible but not in the kind of way where I'm morbidly entertained by it. It's not disturbing or unsettling, or at least not in the way its director intended. It's…

• Review by Hexagore ★★★★

  I saw this Belgian crime thriller pop up on a "disturbing movies" list and thought to myself, how bad could it be?
  Turns out it's indeed pretty intense, hopeless and dark, dealing with the highly uncomfortable theme of pedophilia.

  This Belgian noir flick opened with a bang and never let up until its final reveal with the killer's motive making everything preceding it feel even more grim and depressing. It's a hard hitting film feeling more like a horror movie than most horror movies and will stick with you long after the end credits.

  Police officer Nick Cafmeyer (Geert Van Rampelberg) lost his brother Bjorn when they were kids when they were playing Cowboys and Indians at the hands of…

• Review by flis04 🎞🎃 ★★★½ 2

  Pädophilie ist ein schwieriges Thema. Nicht nur weil sich nahezu alle Menschen über die Abscheulichkeit dieses Verlangens bewusst sind, auch weil eine Auseinandersetzung mit diesem Fall sehr vorsichtig geschehen muss.
  Genau darüber kann man nun anhand des Films "Die Behandlung diskutieren. Basiert die Handlung auf dem gleichnamigen englischen Roman von der Autorin Mo Hayder, kommt die Verfilmung nun aus Belgien. Es handelt sich jedoch nicht um einen Fernsehfilm. Im deutschen TV ist es ja nicht unüblich Romane aus anderen Ländern zu verfilmen, im Kino jedoch schon.
  Vielleicht findet sich hier das erste Indiz für die Sprengkraft welche hinter dem Thema der Pädophilie hervorkommt. Eine Sprengkraft, welche die erzählerische Raffinesse möglicherweise verdecken könnte.

  Warum ist es nun so interessant über die…