De behandeling (2014) watch online HD

"The Treatment" is very dark Belgian thriller, wonderfully directed, never boring, with great music and a brilliant damaged main character.

In the wrong hands, the movie could have turned out a big cliché, but narrative is so well done, that it pretty much keeps you guessing how it ends.

It's not a movie for the squeamish due to several scenes of abuse. Even the implied, off-screen brutality might not be for everyone.

I was very surprise of the high production quality. Until now, "Bullhead" was for me a Belgian film that set high standards in the dark crime genre, but "The Treatment" is a far more balanced and gritty movie.

If you like the "Prisoners", "Se7en", "True Detective" or "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", be sure not to miss this!

One of the best and most intense movies I have seen in a long time.

Martyrs (2008) comes to mind but this is much less gory and more psychological but probably as many twists and turns. Funny Games (1997) and its excellent remake also come to mind. The story develops gracefully, which is an odd word to use for a movie like this but I think the writing, the acting and the pace developed a flow that kept me along for the ride the entire time. It kept me guessing and thinking and I love movies that can do that for me. It is very disturbing subject matter so be warned. Not everyone will like this or even be able to watch it. It is not "literally" graphic but it is very emotionally graphic. I would like to only recommend this movie to those who enjoy dark films but this is such a well made movie I feel it deserves a larger audience. Just great cinema if you can challenge yourself to get past the subject matter. Strap in and go along for the ride. For me, it was one of those movies that I literally said "WOW" when the credits rolled.

The film is, to any standards, incredibly well made technically and superbly acted by all actors (which explains the one point I gave it). But, what on earth was the rest of it?! It is one of the most unabashedly manipulative and exploitative films I've seen in a long time, and that includes American ones. This police story is trying desperately to reach a higher level of intensity and emotion by the cheapest of the cheapest means possible; the exclusive of the medieval-style fear our modern 'big bad wolf', 'boogie man', or 'witch'. Understand: 'the pedophile'. Yes, that unknown sadist gazing (upside down and from a roof...: we are never really explained how this is possible) who prey on, then attack defenseless small children . (they tried in the film to make it a pedophile 'ring' but that failed). Then to take us on this manipulation ride, we are force-fed child mutilations, real- time raped child post-mortems, pornographic child rape photos, etc. ad nausea. This film reminds of those drivers who stop their cars to look at mangled bodies in a car wreck... The list of crassness' are in-exhaustive: the lone policemen with a deeply personal motive solving the case all by himself (with bare hands in the end), cryptic symbols 'inadvertently' left by baddies, car number plates visible on found videos, a fully detailed and beautifully designed scrap-book created by the criminal (who is completely insane and unable to even keep his hands together), we even have …maps, yes maps that lead the goodie to the hidden treasure cove of evidence! Since I'm here to save you from having to see this piece of idiocy, one more crassness: the Big Bad Wolf, on his way to (indirectly) rape a small boy, takes a lift… and ..in comes a tiny 6 year old, alone. And we are supposed to feel 'fear'? All we feel is the stupidity of it: so now little 6 year old's take the lift down to the cellars ...alone? The only missing crassness was …there was not catholic priest involved in this inexistent 'pedophile ring'. Where was he in this film? They must have cut his scenes out. The film takes the audience manipulation so far as to force us to believe the swimming teacher (gazing longingly at little boys bodies underwater) is a pedophile, then told he ...isn't one at all. Shameful cheap tricks, truly.

Some absurd moments? One minute the child victim at the end is screaming his head off as his father anal rapes him, then next second he is completely flaccid and lets himself taken quietly by B.B.W, without a sound, or a single movement. He is put down whilst B.B.W tries to kill the cop (with spit), and…just stays there! Literally waits for BBW to come back and take him away to ...(well, we don't really know to where, just somewhere). What?! The film gets so carried away by its blatant attempt to force-shock us, we are made to believe the child's fathers themselves were made to rape their sons... You mean to say that, half dead with fear, hunger and thirst, they manage to get an erection over their tiny son, penetrate them anally and get an orgasm enough to fill their cavities with their semen (and thus lead us to a false suspect again)?! What, what, what?!!! What are you on about?! What kind of sick joke is this grotesque film trying to sell? What kind of idiots does it take its viewers for? The entire film is carried by a detective-man who clearly belongs in an insane asylum, not as the head detective in charge of child crimes.

We have not changed one bit since the witch hunts, people still exploit these themes and make money from it...

Rather than exploit human fear and stupidity, why not, for once, make a film about the truly scary thing about this modern world? The real horror, the most atrocious suffering ever in our modern times. A film about the 95% of all crimes against kids, the highest number of killings, rapes, tortures, mental tortures, and abuses of all kinds, carried out by ...their own parents? Oh but no, that interests no one, not medieval enough. And whilst we keep these figures and truths silent, we pat these exploitive filmmakers on the back with gold-leafed awards, and talk how great and useful these films are that 'break the silence'. Go on, take the ride. You know you want to.

I haven't written many reviews on here. I feel like I want to shout out about this movie. It left me with goosebumps! First Flemish movie I've watched and certainly now wont be my last.

Amazing movie. Very well directed and acted. Really liked the main male character and you could feel his torment from what happened in his past.

Don't want to give anything away but this truly is a must see movie but not for the feint hearted. Certainly not your typical run of the mill Hollywood movie which makes a nice change. Dark and disturbing....one of those movies that leaves you thinking... what if...

Bare with me as this is my first review.

This is a film of the British author Mo Hayder's book of the same title. Having read the book I was aware of the uneasy subject matter. It is a difficult watch and content is extremely dark. but that said overall the film was very good. For those who haven't read the book i feel will be in suspense and hooked throughout, right the way to the climax at the end.I was very impressed with the acting especially the lead, who carried off the angst ridden detective extremely well.

The production values were high. The direction of the film was in keeping with the story being told with its solemn photography and use of lighting. It is definitely not your average film and I am not sure it would appeal to the average cinema goer, but i would highly recommend it. Even more so if you haven't read the book.

My only gripe, and it is only small, is that certain things were left out from the book, which would of enhanced this film but I guess that is down to time/budget constraints.

Lastly I would like to commend the director for taking on this film, being a fan of the Mo Hayder series of books involving this detective I can only hope someone else will take one of the other books. I thought maybe it might get picked up as a series like wire in the blood.

The Treatment or originally "de Behandeling" is adapted from a serial novel by Mo Hayder with the help of screenwriter Carl Joos and beautifully directed by Hans Herbots.

The film opens with a flashback; two boys are walking alongside train track while a deep and melancholic voice reads letters aloud from a pedophile who claims to have kidnapped and killed one of the children. The letters are addressed to our main protagonist Nick Cafmeyer (Geert Van Rampelberg) and speak of his younger brother, now missing for 25 years.

In the present, Nick, a detective, faced with a case where a mother and father are found brutally tortured and their son is missing. Nick's determination to solve this case grows more and more personal as his pursuit of the truth borders on unhealthily obsessive. Could it be connected with his brother's unsolved kidnapping?

The Treatment is an expertly crafted mind-bender. The film seems to taunt and toy with the audience's anticipations and run it in circles to match our perplexity to Nick's confusion. The cinematography and score are very effective in shaping the mood and aiding in the psychological effect of this film. It's an intellectual piece and will definitely be enjoyed more by the audience who likes to think and not simply be guided by exposition. In fact, this film has very little exposition at all which is a precious attribute to have.

There are elements that were reminiscent of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, True Detective Season One, and Prisoners, perhaps most of all due to its brutally dark subject matter. Overall this picture is a very gritty and engaging story. You'll be trying to follow along, often times drawing the same conclusions as the characters only to be proved wrong time and time again. Much like as in life, The Treatment leaves doesn't simply hand us the answers.

The Treatment is a captivating and wholly original film adaptation of the most sinister persuasion. Evoking sentiments of unease and dread, it is unlike any American film and may be difficult for some to watch.

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The Treatment is a psychologically intense mystery-thriller directed by Hans Herbot. Unusually, it's a Belgian adaption of a British crime novel. Although it is from the Low Countries, it follows very much in the style of Scandinavian noir. It's a pretty uncompromisingly bleak, tense and very dark story that focuses on very troubling subject matter. A police detective is still haunted by the unsolved disappearance of his brother who was suspected of being a victim of a local paedophile. He is thrust into the middle of a new case involving another child abuser whose modus operandi is house invasions of families with a mother, father and young boy. He inflicts particularly horrible perverted actions on his victims, the detective wonders seriously if both stories are linked in some way.

It's quite rare for a film, far less a thriller, to focus on the very unpleasant subject matter of child abuse and paedophiles. The Treatment, therefore, walks a very fine line between being explicit yet stopping short of being exploitative. It's a path that it navigates very successfully though, for this is certainly a disturbing movie that shows enough to make the viewer very uncomfortable, yet knows how to do this without going too far. The mystery itself is layered and deep and draws you in further and further. Things are slowly revealed in sometimes unexpected ways. It wouldn't be right to reveal too much about the plot here, as the best way to approach this one is with as little prior knowledge as possible. It's helped considerably by some very strong acting, in some roles that could not have been easy and would have required some real skill. It is not a film that is going to be for everyone though, as despite the careful treatment it is still very grim stuff on the whole. But for those who like dark thrillers and especially ones who appreciate the northern European variety, this is a keeper.

The Treatment (De Behandeling) is an exceptionally well done film. It has a very tense plot, is well directed and will keep you on the edge of your seats. So, technically speaking I have no real problems with this Belgian thriller. However, the subject matter is so distasteful and so disturbing you should think twice before going to see this police film.

Nick Cafmeyer (Geert Van Rampelberg) is a wounded and traumatized man. Many years ago, when he was quite young, he saw his brother abducted and the kid was never seen again. Not surprisingly, when Nick grew up he became a cop and investigated cases that sometimes reminded him of his brother—particularly cases involving pedophiles. Additionally, the man that the police think did it couldn't be jailed because they didn't have enough evidence—and the suspect would keep terrorizing Nick—showing up near his house even years later. The sick freak would not break the law in each case—just let Nick know that he was there.

A new case comes along that is very, very sick and disturbing. It also has a lot of common traits to Nick's brother's disappearance and Nick is intent on catching the guy once and for all, as he assumes it's the same man in both cases. However, in a twist, the guy who everyone assumed killed Nick's brother kills himself in a VERY vivid manner partway through the film and he is obviously NOT the guy doing the current sick crimes. What are these sick sex offenses involving children? Well, part of me thinks I should just tell you because I can guarantee when many learn the twist they WON'T want to see the film! Suffice to say, the case is much, much, much, MUCH sicker than any I've ever seen on the television show "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"!

Because the crime is very, very disturbing and because so much of the film is ultra-violent and realistic, I am once again warning viewers. If you have been a victim of sexual or physical abuse, you really should consider watching ANYTHING else—as much of the film is like watching a pedophile at work—including tormenting his victims. I am not necessarily saying it's too graphic—but it is VERY graphic and very intense and might very likely elicit Post-Trauamatic Stress reactions in viewers, as it might remind them of their own victimization. I think I know what I am talking about here, as I used to be a psychotherapist who worked with victims of sexual abuse.

Now if you can stomach the film, it IS exceptionally well made. The film is incredibly creative and the twists come as HUGE surprises. Additionally, Nick's character is wonderful and Rampelberg's acting is exceptional—as he plays a walking wounded man who has so much pain and rage he needs to work out while STILL investigating horrific crimes. Overall, it's a very original and fascinating film but one that is frankly bound to be a painful viewing experience for many.

"Detective Nick Cafmeyer has the looks, is smart and makes career within the Belgian Police. But there's a dark shadow over his life and relationships. Nick struggles since his 9th with the unsolved disappearance of his brother Bjorn, last seen when walking next to known pedophile Ivan Plettinckx. A new pedophile and homicide case of a 9 year old boy makes Nick suspect that there is a connection between the new offense and the old case of the disappearance of his brother. He takes the lead in a thrilling manhunt for an elusive pedophile."

The film may be a particularly touching, but also sophisticated crime thriller in line with other Belgian (or anyway Flemish) suspense like 'De zaak Alzheimer' (The Alzheimer Case), 'Loft' and 'De indringer'. Although the storyline of 'De behandeling' is layered and quite complicated, the director succeeds in holding the viewer's attention. The actors play their roles very realistic and with a lot of emotions. The atmosphere of the movie is dark and grimy with controversial subjects and although the content is never too explicit, it don't takes long to arose a sense of horror.

Horror is also to be found in the appearance of the villain. Nicknamed 'De Trol' (The Troll), the movie has a villain that can meet up with frightful Hollywood Villains like 'Se7en' 's John Doe. Overall, I can recommend 'De behandeling' to whom likes dark, almost horror-like crime thrillers. Just do not expect it to be an easy going popcorn movie.

British crime novelist Mo Hayder's series of Jack Caffery potboilers have been gaining quite a fan following since 2000's inaugural entry Birdman. Surely even the author herself could hardly have hoped for a better introduction to cinema audiences than this Belgian adaptation of its 2001 follow-up The Treatment. Chauvinism aside, a concept largely alien to the majority of the Belgian population let me assure you, this ranks as one of the most accomplished thrillers produced worldwide this year. Underrated director Hans Herbots, most frequently employed in TV but also responsible for one of the more exciting domestic big screen debuts with the English language adaptation of Anne Provoost's popular young adult novel FALLING in 2001, has style to burn but wisely never lets it get in the way of a complex and compelling plot, expertly bowdlerized by respected screenwriter Carl Joos who also adapted Jef Geeraert's classic lowlands noir The Alzheimer Affair for Erik Van Looy's well-received THE MEMORY OF A KILLER.

The Jack Caffery character has been "Flemicized" into Nick Cafmeyer (Geert Van Rampelberg in what should be a star-making performance), hands on police detective carrying the heavy emotional burden of having been a near witness in his early teens to the kidnapping of his kid brother Bjorn. Pointing the finger towards a suspected local pedophile, the creepy Ivan Plettinckx (a devastating turn by Johan van Assche from another Geeraerts adaptation, Jan Verheyen's solid DOSSIER K.), but lack of evidence prevents his conviction. In the twenty-odd years since, Plettinckx has tormented Nick with every conceivable scenario of what might have happened to his sibling, whose body was never located. So when a home-jacking goes tragically wrong and the couple's 9-year old son is abducted, things are about to get profoundly personal for Nick who suspects a link to what happened some two decades ago.

To reveal anything more would be a crying shame as the film (at least for the source novel's non-readers) pulls one shocking surprise after another out of its magician's high hat with nary a false note credibility-wise. True, the culprit's nominal motive for his heinous deeds did strike as a little far-fetched, going as far as raising an unintended smile, but bearing in mind that this emanates from an extremely twisted mindset to begin with quickly puts the narrative back on track. While the movie pulls no punches in detailing the detective's downward spiral, much more is (strongly) suggested rather than explicitly shown, which is a good thing as it involves several unspeakable acts committed on young children, at least one of which is bound to hit you like an 18-wheeler cruising down the highway. The beyond bleak ending cynically bars all exits from this "hell on earth".

A major plus for domestic audiences is that Herbots recruited most of his cast among the reliable but faintly generic second stringers from his TV heritage where more instantly recognizable faces (such as the ubiquitous Jan Decleir or Koen De Bouw) would have harmed the film's brand of stylized semi-documentary realism. Handsome Van Rampelberg has been building an intriguing body of work since the turn of the millennium and brings a febrile intensity to the troubled anti-hero faced with an unbearable judgment call when he has to choose between upholding the law or finally learning what happened to his brother. Although he definitely gets into hot water morally, the viewer will root for him every step of the way. Burly Dominique Van Malder, following an indelible bit part in Peter Monsaert's uneven OFFLINE, equally impresses as a severely socially handicapped neighbor who may unwittingly (?) hold the key to the whole mystery. A prime suspect, scrawny swim teacher Chris Gommaer is played to twitching perfection by Michael Vergauwen whose arrest ranks among the film's most heartbreaking moments, a magnificently composed image shot overhead, indicative of the director's effortless technical brilliance.

A policeman with a personal back story of child abuse / abduction attempts to track down a paedophile who has attacked a family. The start of the film is deliberately unclear and it starts at a slow pace but stick with it. Note everything. Add one detail or take one detail away and this film would be less than it is. The pace steadily picks up with the increasing frustration of the brilliantly played investigating officer as he attempts, through official and increasingly unofficial means, to prevent another attack. The mood of the film is dark. The story line meticulous. This film doesn't spoon feed you. You really have to concentrate and even then I guarantee it will throw you off balance more than once. The subject matter couldn't be darker or more disturbing but is never shown directly on screen. The crimes are shown through the consequences, and the corrosive effects on the victims and the investigators. The perpetrator is a truly chilling creation. Entertaining isn't really an appropriate word for this film but, if you bear with it until the story begins to unfold and you can bear with the subject matter, you'll stick with it to the end and it will stick with you for a long time afterwards. Watch this genuinely stunning Belgian film before America goes for the almost inevitable remake. I cannot imagine America producing anything approaching this level of bleak brilliance. Reminiscent: Silence of the Lambs, Seven. My rating 9/10.

I haven't read the novel this is based on (I've been told the novel is better, but it's tough for a movie to live up to the expectations, especially because this is based on all the twists the story takes and the guessing of who the bad guy is amongst other things), but the movie is really great.

The central performance is amazing and unlike other crime movies it is not that easy to guess where this is going (if you haven't read the book). The twists and turns the story take are absolutely marvelous. Though that might not be the right word for it, we do get a movie that feels real. And even when we are a step ahead of the detective, it's not as if he's a bad cop. There is so much going on, he can't know everything ... sometimes not knowing can be tough though ...

De Behandeling - de film or The Treatment. A very dark story, but this is another of those stories that humanity needs to tell, and is helping to shine light in those dark places.

Here we have a very determined police detective who has a very disturbing past of his own with the kidnapping of his brother when they were both kids, and the fact that the man he has always been so certain took him still taunts him up to this day. Well with all of that going on there is a pedophile loose in the countryside who is earning the name "Troll" creeping around on rooftops, and in trees. This is a very deep mystery with a very descriptive story that has been filmed extremely well, and acted to perfection by a cast who truly feel like they are all in on this together, or really want to be. Very well acted indeed there are times when the lead character of Nick played by Geert Van Rampelberg is manic, and so out of his head that he can not think, or act correctly, and this was handled so well.

The evil in the story is as deep as say an episode of Criminal Minds, only taken to the farthest extreme. This is not a knock in any way, but I felt that this could have easily been one of those fantastic 3 part series that are coming out of the UK, and Europe lately it is the way it is filmed, and the rural feeling of it all that makes it feel that way for me. I Enjoyed this movie a lot, it was very creepy, and I yelled at the screen quite often hoping that Nick would hear me, and focus on the right things, but whether he did or not I was still rewarded by the experience, and his ultimate choices.

I recommend this to mature adults who understand movies, and reality are not the same, but sometimes we need to look into the mirrors that they provide, and improve ourselves accordingly, oh, and to suspense filled drama lovers. Just be warned, it is dark disturbing stuff.

Jesse of www.Jesse.ca

For my life, I cannot understand the good reviews of this awful film. How is it possible to see behind the unbelievable plot, really - getting erection enough to rape their own sons, while drugged, dehydrated for days, forced by a lunatic with a knife? Come on! Add the stupid police work - everyone running around alone, not taking notes or reporting in, just follow their own nose. Crime scene? No worries, just everyone poke around as they see fit! Weird psycho digging in garbage cans found by the police in the park where they are looking for a boy and a psycho - no worries, this cannot be the psycho we are looking for, since he's alone without any boy. The lead(?) investigator, half insane, bad tempered also runs around, does not listen to clues, does not do serious work at all. Why on earth did he randomly stop and "interviewed" the second victim? Which, by the way couldn't even try to pull the little pipe off the wall, but could carve through the floor, the thinnest floor in history arriving into a spotlight mounting which would have set the whole house on fire within hours.

No, this was a crap movie, it does not get much more stupid than this. The only thing I cannot fault, is the acting.

Some films get a "free pass" i.e. an IMDb rating of 7 or higher (which makes the film a must-watch) because of their subject matter. Any film which deals with difficult subject matter such as child abduction, molestation etc. will automatically pull at the heart strings so you can't really go wrong with them in terms of audience investment in the characters and the story.

Yes, this film is worth watching because you will of course be emotionally impacted (unless you have no feelings) but I've rated the film a 6 based on the merits of the production and writing etc. The film definitely has Hollywood's production quality and the main actors are charismatic if a little hollow.

My main gripe(s) with this film are: movie realism. It is an accepted fact that police officers ALWAYS go off the deep end and break ALL the rules to solve crimes and hell, normal people would too! If I were confronting a paedophile and trying to get information, they'd at least lose a few fingers before I would give up - what the hell is this guy doing? There are so many scenes where you're expecting the lead guy to do something above and beyond to get what he needs but he doesn't and it's so frustrating! and unbelievable! Not just in movie land but in the real world too! Frankly, this guy's police work and deduction skills are appalling (not the actor's fault of course). There was one particular word which connected things but it made no sense that ALL the kids would be using the same word... why?! Did the guy have this word tattooed on his forehead or something??

Too many times I had to go 'urgh, as if' at the screen and the ending was infuriating. ¡It's not exactly Fort Knox though is it!

So it's worth watching just because of the subject matter... except it's not is it? Because the subject matter is revolting.

Truth be told, up until things started to get ridiculous, I would have recommended watching this film but now that I've seen the whole thing, I'm not going to. I still give it a 6 for the production quality and the acting and the (unfortunately) emotional storyline but take the latter out and it's just a glossy Hollywood type film with a lot of flaws in the story telling.

6/10

There are two central themes in Hans Herbots's Belgian tres noir The Treatment: the need for closure and misogyny.

Inspector Nick Cafmeyer's investigation of some pedophiliac murders is driven by his own childhood experience. When he was nine his younger brother Bjorn was kidnapped and has not been heard from since. Nick is still harassed by Ivan Plettinckz, a suspect released for want of evidence. Nick's obsession with solving Bjorn's disappearance both advances and hinders his pursuit of the current killer. By solving the present crime and saving another child Nick finally puts behind him his unwarranted guilt for not having protected his brother.

His chase of the killer brings him back to the physical site of Bjorn's disappearance — the railway tracks — which is also the psychological site. The film begins and ends with shots of the two boys walking along those tracks, playing cowboys and indians, with cowboy Nick poking an arrow at Indian Bjorn. Within this image of innocence the theme is already the hunter and the hunted, reversible.

Plettinckz is himself in need of closure. He teases Nick with promises of information about Bjorn. His inability to leave Nick alone is as compulsive as Nick's guilt. His last clue takes Nick to a buried box of videos of criminal pedophilia. He finally admits his guilt when, after sending Nick to dig up this buried past, he hangs himself. By initially withholding the criminal videos and by both attending and not reporting Plettinckz's suicide Nick seriously compromises himself as an investigator. So, too, when he pulps the killer seeing Plettinckz's laughing face.

The killer inflicts another torment on his victims. Impotent, he forces the fathers to rape their little sons. Every attack spreads the trauma rendering those victims in need of perhaps an impossible closure. The impossibility of complete closure is also reflected when Bjorn (who is still alive so many years later) is left to die in a remote caravan, his "friend" Nancy in jail because of the videos Nick finally passed on. In the novel Nick finds Bjorn. The film's solution avoids an improbable happy ending in this most noir of worlds.

As Nick "treats" his guilt by preventing recurrence of the crime, the killer "treats" his impotence by a sick misogyny. He blames a mysterious female hormone for weakening him and wards it off with his urine. Hence the urine pouring under the door at the victim mother in his last crime. Hence, too, his storage of his urine as a disinfectant. His theft of (feminine, dangerous) milk sets Nick on his trail. The killer is a split personality. One self considers giving the police the pictures he found. The other believes himself to be a more evolved human being, hindered only by the weakening impact of woman. Of course fear of le petit mort and the vagina dentata is a terror as old as manhood itself. Here it's displayed in psychopathic proportions.

The themes converge in the urine. Urine is like the past, something we go through (or that goes through us) and that we properly leave behind. The villain's storage of his urine is as debilitating as the hero's storage of his guilt. That's a surprising bit of poetic irony in this compelling, gripping trek through the dark psyche.

The Treatment tackles several topics, the main being child abuse. The gloomy weather of Belgium depicted on screen adds to the bleak atmosphere. The authors were obviously trying to rise up to the challenge of current Scandinavian crime thrillers and partially they've been successful.

Overall, The Treatment is a good movie for audience with a strong stomach looking for a dark crime thriller. Given the themes it explores it never crosses the line of bad taste or sensationalism.

However, roughly at the half of the movie, we've ran into several Hollywood clichés. There is a police officer with questionable mental stability who pursues cases alone, often following no rules or logic apart from his premonition. And the "main villain" looked and behaved as if he came out of a random movie about serial killers. As if European democracies allow you to do whatever you want within your own four walls and stockpile any possible substance, even gallons of urine, without anyone even noticing, let alone informing the authorities...

I went to watch this movie because the three reviews here praise the film so good ... first it's foreign language film and sometime the subtitle didn't help much for deliver the true translation ... but something about this movie, because I am more focus to the plot and the character rather than watching the subtitle, something that drew me deep and deeper till I forget it's just a fiction. It is really a masterpiece because it would tremble your feeling and let it hang by the end of the movie.

I praise the directing, the actors, and the screenwriter ... because they bring more on the table ... i didn't expect that this movie is good but it turned out really really good. Somehow the movie gave me creep to think that pedophile it's kind a network passed to another one and the next thing you know ... you're on the same roof with pedophilia ... gave me a goose bump, and I will never forget this kind of movie ... because the ending is hanging. I wonder what's happen with nick's brother ... that stressed me out.

I recommended to all of you who still not sure to watch this movie ... do watch ... and do experience what a really great movie is ... and don't forget to leave a review whatever your feel about the movie. because myself from skeptical turn to praise this movie.

bravoooo

This Belgian mystery thriller, follows the trend of the new wave of Scandinavian thriller noir. It tells us the story of a police detective who is haunted by the abduction of his younger brother years earlier when they were kids, while playing together near their house. To make things worse he is regularly taunted by a neighbour who happens to be his main suspect on his brother abduction. His brother was never found, making our main character an obsessive and hard to control individual. The film is impeccably directed, creating a grey picture that feels claustrophobic and terrifying at the same time.

All the actors are excellent and i would like to make special mention to Michael Vergauwen who plays his role with gusto but that's not to take anything away from the rest of the cast since all of them are really great and feel absolutely real. My problem with the film lies with the script. I love European thrillers because as opposed to the American ones they tend to be more about the substance and less about the cheap frills and i found that at some point The treatment decides to throw one too many twists into the plot and as a consequence the movie loses credibility and the whole project suffers for it which is really frustrating in a film this good. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX SPOILERS XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX When the swimming teacher tries to talk to the detective about the troll he is totally dismissed despite the fact the police had no real leads and troll seemed to be a recurrent theme in the investigation. when our protagonist meets the old woman following the clues found on the videos left by Plettincks he doesn't even try to search her house and leaves without as much as trying to fully question her. that strikes me as incredibly strange from someone who has been looking for some explanation to his brother disappearance for years and has now a tangible piece of evidence and a real suspect. He later submits the tapes which are his only hope to find out what really happened to his brother. when the police get the results from the tests on the semen found on the young boy's corpse they very happily completely forget about the bite marks which again don't seem to me like the logical actions of a methodical police department. And last but not least why in the name of God doesn't the detective request police back up when he goes to rescue the family at the end of the film. That is the kind of thing that American films do and the reason why they are not realistic in the slightest. All in all a good film that could have been even better.

If you are in the mood to be thoroughly brought down for two hours and ten minutes, then this is your movie. I am a huge fan of the crime genre, but The Treatment drags on, and although the acting is top notch, the story meanders for far too long. Nick, the lead character is in charge of the investigation of a serial pedophile killer. His own brother was abducted as a child, and as a result, the cop takes the case personally. A series of low life suspects are investigated, and eventually a convoluted explanation which includes a female hormone and trolls, left me scratching my head in disbelief. I have read comparisons to Seven, a film I found to be far superior to this one. The cast is excellent, and so The Treatment earns a 6/10.

Geert Van Rampelberg's screen presence certainly holds your attention. In fact, he carries the film on his shoulders throughout and is the main reason why everything works, he is so right for the part and he plays it with gusto which is almost excessive in places but not much. He is also supported by an ensemble which looks very committed and by a production team who knows what they're doing. The trouble I have with all this is the following - the script is derivative in that it's clearly taking a lot of cues from more famous movies such as the Hannibal Lecter films ("The Biter" is one such obvious cue) and is written in a way which suggests that it was meant to top the horrors by making the circumstances even more sordid - let's see, what could that be, how about fathers being forced to rape their sons while their mothers are watching? And bingo, your script is practically writing itself and it's sure to be "edgy". If you can buy into all this you have yourself a very fine and diverting movie here with a lot to enjoy - great acting, dense atmosphere, excellent direction. Top marks for everything but in the end it's "yeah right".

''De behandeling'' is a Belgian screen adaptation of Mo Hayder's second novel in the Jack Caffery series and it achieves to capture the essence of this excellent crime/thriller books, reaching out into the core of human depravity and brutality. Mo Hayder is an author, known for the disturbing stories with gritty descriptive parts and harsh, dark tones. This film is certainly not recommended for viewers who have a weak stomach. as it delves into the horrendous theme of pedophilia and child molesting. The protagonist, police officer Nick Cafmeyer (Belgian adapation of Jack Caffery's name) is deeply traumatized by his brother's kidnapping and disappearance which happened when he was in his early teens. Nick is certain about the identity of the abductor of his brother, he is a neighboring well-known pedophile named Ivan Plettinckx (Ivan Penderecki is his name in the novels) who never ceases to taunt and provoke Nicky by telling him different versions of his brother's tragic fate. The opening scene of the film is one of the most artistically beautiful and effective I've seen in a long time, with Plettinckx speaking to Nick, telling him various stories about his brother's demise. The film is as disturbing as the books are and this means that it is a movie that even seasoned crime fiction fans will find hard to swallow, especially in some parts such as the child molestation videos that Nick is watching in the middle of the film or the final scenes in the second home invasion. The plot begins to unfold when Nick's team is called to solve a grisly case of home invasion, torturing and child abduction. The typpe of the crime is putting Nick in alert and brings back repressed memories of his brother's disappearance. Stubborn, but effective, he will manage to solve the case and arrest the sick individual who committed those terrible acts but with a high price for his mental stability. We, as viewers, learn in the very last scene what happened to Nick's brother, but unfortunately this is not true about the protagonist who in the movie's finale is misled to believe that something else happened. Of course, we are profoundly shocked by the young man's fate and the film's closing credits is leaving us with a bitter taste and the sense that there is no real catharsis for the film's protagonist. The film is of top-notch quality in nearly every aspect -directing, acting, plot, pace- and the viewer will have to go back as early as 1995 and the legendary ''Se7en'' in order to find an equal to the ''Treatment''. The fans of the books will love it and the same goes for those who know what to expect in terms of gore and violence. So, be warned and watch it if you dare.

It's not often I find it tough to watch a film, regardless of the subject matter, but this one makes the list.

I want to say this was a really good film and if it happened to come from true events (I hope it hasn't) then it was a story worth telling for the victims. However, the very thought that something like this could run through somebodies head, is terrifying in itself.

There is a brilliance to it if it weren't so unbearable

'The Treatment'/'De behandeling' is a very strong, unsettling film, and with the exception of Markus Schleinzer's 'Michael' of three years earlier, it may be the best film about paedophilia. There are some action/crime conventions in the film that we have seen countless times, but the bravery of the film-making and performances of the actors are so powerful that you forgive the familiar territory; and tragically, in this era it's just about impossible to make a film without compromise and cliché anyway.

There is a palpable malignancy to this Belgian film that is very rarely pulled off well without turning into cartoon -- you feel like you need to take a shower after it concludes. It would make for an incredible double feature with 'Michael', because both films tackle the same 'untouchable' subject in different ways and, amazingly, both manage to pull it off, but of course, most people can't deal with one film about child molestation let alone two back-to-back.

'Cruel' film-making tends to go one of two ways: cynical cowardice ('Saw', 'The Human Centipede') or intellectual bravery ('Salò', 'Michael', Haneke). 'The Treatment's uncomfortable viewing fits comfortably into the latter camp.

Excellent movie but don't let the "not rated" rating fool you. It's hard-core rated R subject matter and something I wish I could erase from my brain. It's very dark and extremely disturbing. Also, I wish the ending would have been different. I really wanted him to find his long-lost brother and have them reunite.