‘Megalomaniac’ Wins Big at Fantasia, As the Party Goes On
variety.comMarta Balaga It was a good day to be bad at Fantasia, as the Cheval Noir Award went to Karim Ouelhaj’s “Megalomaniac,” loosely inspired by the horrifying true story of the “Butcher of Mons.” The Belgian serial killer is believed to have murdered at least five women in the 1990s.
He was never captured and his identity was never revealed.The jury of the event’s 26th edition, including Charles Bramesco, Elza Kephart, Maitland McDonagh and Heather O’Neill, presided over by C.
Robert Cargill, fell for its unapologetic darkness, calling “Megalomaniac” “the very sort of film that festivals exist to share.”“[It’s] an astonishing, brutal piece of art that challenges the audience while simultaneously saying something deeply profound.
It is a lush piece of cinema whose intent is to disturb and it succeeds at every turn,” they stated, also awarding Eline Schumacher for her committed performance as the killer’s daughter Martha, forced to struggle with her family’s twisted legacy pretty much since the day she was born, as well as the crimes now perpetuated by her brother. “Starting with Martha’s violent birth that Felix witnesses, and the consequences it will have on both of them, I show that children imitate us,” Ouelhaj told Variety before the film’s world premiere.“I am not trying to provide Felix with an excuse, but the chain of evil is continually perpetuated if we are unable to face it.
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