The House That Jack Built (2018)"I don't have a handle on how many processes take part in the
decay of a dead human, but I know a bit about dessert wines." What compels a filmmaker to spend all the time and resources to create a movie that wants to get inside the head of a serial killer and then present it to you for... insight, definitely not entertainment. After watching Jack I think the answer is that filmmakers and serial killers share certain qualities. Leave it to LVT to spell those qualities out on a series of cards Jack (Matt Dillon) flips like Bob Dillon in "Subterranean Homesick Blues": Egotism, Vulgarity, Rudeness, Impulsiveness, Narcissism, Intelligence, Irrationality, Manipulation, Mood Swings, Verbal Superiority.
This sub-genre all makes sense now. Angst, I Stand Alone, Man Bites Dog, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, American Psycho. All films written or co-written by their director, letting their own superior sense of humanity run free in these characters who exercise ultimate control over the people they encounter. It now seems inevitable that Lars Von Trier would make such a film.
In a way he's already made this one. The structure is Nymphomaniac with murder in place of sex and half the length. A series of episodes connected by a conversation between the lead and another character. Some of these conversations aren't deeply written, but Matt Damon, giving his best performance, balances all the emotions listed above.
Jack is obsessive compulsive careful but also increasingly risky and sloppy in his actions as he comes to realize nobody will believe what he's doing. He often says one thing while doing something else and will change his mind multiple times while committing murder. Unlike "movie" serial killers, he's making it up as he goes, often says something to make people suspicious, but can quickly change his plan to keep moving towards his goal.
The conversation between him and Verge (Bruno Ganz, mostly off screen) keeps it from being episodic. It grasps for a larger theme, and while it ultimately doesn't reach anything profound, Dillon's performance - easily the best of this type since Christian Bale in American Psycho - makes the journey worthwhile, if you're up for it.
RATING:
★ ★ ★ - Good