Ben X (2007)

In his debut, Nic Balthazar skillfully mixes different social topics: addiction to video games, autism and also school bullying. Even though its scenes are sometimes excessive, Ben X is both a visual and a psychological punch. The video game universe provides Ben with a perfect shelter in which he finds the strength to continue living in real life. Also, this addiction will help him to do some discoveries and encounters. The many connections established between reality and the game are relevant. At the end, the film leads to wonder where the limits between reality and fiction are and it also shows that a video game can have both negative and positive consequences in the real world. Nic Balthazar cleverly mixes these two universes in order to get a hyperrealist and moving result that portrays a merciless world that constantly reject those who are different. Full review on our blog Los Indiscretos : https://losindiscretos.org

Ben is a quiet introvert who spends all his spare time in a virtual reality game. He is socially awkward with Asperger and tries to compensate with strategies from the games. He gets bullied at school with one particularly bad incident. While some pity him, his only true friend is another online gamer named Scarlite. They are to meet in real life but Ben lacks the courage to talk to her. Just as he's about to commit suicide, Scarlite pulls him from jumping in front of a train. They decide to go on a quest with help from their parents.I really like the way the movie tries to bring Asperger point of view to the audience. The first half of the movie is great. It's a little unlikely that the online heroine turns out to look like Laura Verlinden but I'm willing to buy it for the movie. The quest is building up to something great but it turns into something silly. It's somewhat passive aggressive and the ending leaves me feeling emotionally cheated.

This is a film which has brought me to the reflexion. Yes, also now, while I write this comment, I am still thinking about he film... A tragic film, a tragic history, behind it is. Seldom I have seen myself a film, emotionally so ready makes because it is simply a relation(connection) to my own life. He makes me sadly and happily - both at the same time. Do you know this, you are glad so much that yourselves to howl is? Knows you the feeling(emotion), it is so sad that to you to howl is?Now mixes these both feelings(emotions) and you suddenly start(begin), you To see life in a different light. Thanks to the studio, which this Film produced and does not let assume up to the last moment(instant), how it ends. Thanks... simply thanks...

The "lesson" of the movie is good, but there are some production/direction flaws. Warning: spoilers incoming!Ben-X: he is a teenager who is constantly bullied at school. He suffers from some psychological disorder. The movie suggests it's autism, but doesn't actually give a final answer to what it is. Here starts the first problem - Ben is in a constant hypervigilance state, while seeming to have great mental abilities (like shown in a doctor's appointment where he can record in his memory dozens of characters by just looking at them), yet has hallucinations too (as seen in the end of the movie). So, the symptoms vary from some schizophrenia to autism, which is really weird. The production tried to give Ben a "mad man" look, which ended up with an overreacted character.The second biggest mistake I find, is the fact that Ben's parents actually encouraged him on feeding his hallucinations and living that lie (as you'll notice in the end of movie). I'm sorry my friend but if you have hallucinations on a regular base, there's something wrong with you. Since I've dealt with schizophrenic people, when the person gets to that point the behavior is seriously modified and the delusion and paranoia just mess up someone's life. Even without all the technical psychological stuff, encouraging someone to live a lie is not the end of a movie I was expecting.Third: I think they could have come up with a better "masterplan" than the one the movie presented (a awfully made false suicide). Suddenly he was getting better at that state of the movie and out of nothing, with a lot of minutes for the film to end, he decides to commit suicide (dead bodies or wounds are not displayed). I think no one actually believed he had died in that scene - that's the kind of non-occurring death I'm tired to see in American cinema and I was expecting something different to be honest. As the movie suggested, Ben-X would have good mental capacities so bringing some more elaborated suicide, or some other plan, would have been so much better.For last, the movie is about some serious issues like autism, discrimination, school bullying, etc. This movie could have had a much more serious environment, and specially a Ben who'd express more feelings other than non-stopping distrust, like anger, depression, etc.;)