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7 Days (DVD) – Skin-crawling horror, made to serve a superior thriller

17th August 2010 By Tim Isaac

Bruno Hamel (Legault) has it all. He’s earning top dollar as a respected surgeon, has a great house in the suburbs and a beautiful family. However, his idyllic existence is one day shattered when his young daughter, Jasmine, doesn’t return home from school. Bruno and wife Sylvie (Mallette) quickly call the police and a search party is soon dispatched to track down the missing youngster.

Bruno and Sylvie are left devastated when their young daughter’s body is found in a ditch nearby, raped and badly beaten. A suspect, Anthony Lemaire (Dubreuil), is soon apprehended for the crime and a seemingly cut-and-dry court case is scheduled. However, a prison sentence isn’t enough to quell Bruno’s despair, and the grieving father decides to take justice into his own hands. Enlisting the help of a local fixer; Bruno kidnaps the accused, chains him away in a secret location and begins a gruelling seven day torture session that will end in a first hand execution. 

7 Days isn’t shy about delivering harrowing imagery, but don’t be fooled into thinking this film is catering to the palettes of the torture porn obsessed, gore hungry audiences out there. Admittedly, there are toe curling moments aplenty; but any blood spilt is well considered and shaped around the central show of the self-destructing Bruno, his bottomless grief and his insatiable need for retribution.

Watching Bruno unleash his surgical skills upon his daughter’s accused killer isn’t meant to entertain us in the slightest. His victim bleeds, bruises and bellows like a real person; not a squib rigged prop ready to spout theatrical blood for our morbid amusement. Rather, the scenes of torture are put in place to make us constantly question and consider both men. With the accused Lemaire, we’re left asking ourselves whether his persistent denial in the face of his harrowing torture is in fact proof of potential innocence. And particularly with Bruno, these scenes deliver incredibly layered characterisation. Not only do they illustrate his epic grief, but the deeper he descends to avenge his daughter, the more we question our initial sympathies for the grieving parent.

Director Daniel Grou deserves high praise for his work here. Not only does the film boast consistently superior visuals, but he takes special care to not let this engaging thriller descend into a gore soaked spectacle. When the violence is shown it’s indeed unflinching and realistic, but more often than not Grou decides to stick with the implication of violence, and lets the central performances translate much of the ordeal.

Speaking of the cast; it’s a unanimously terrific ensemble. Claude Legault is perfectly cast as the grieving father spiralling into despair and out of control, and Martin Dubreuil is equally engaging as the accused murderer. Both more than suffer for their art in some truly harrowing sequences that’ll linger in the memory of the audience for ages after credits roll, and together offer a challenging two hander that will have audiences constantly challenging their initial perceptions.

Overall Verdict: A superior thriller that hits high notes on all counts; 7 Days successfully combines all the elements of the harrowing drama with skin crawling violence usually reserved for the most extreme of horror pictures. A top of his game director, and a tremendous cast ground this picture in all too believable territory, making for a difficult watch; but one that’ll make a lasting impression.

Special Features:
None

Reviewer: David Steele

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