“Megalomaniac” (2023) is a fictional (hopefully) Belgian film that follows the real-life serial killer, unidentified Butcher of Mons’ two children: Felix (Benjamin Ramon) and Martha (Eline Schumacher). Felix continues his father’s legacy, but Martha has the responsibility of keeping up appearances by going to work and interacting with people. The burden of this façade becomes unbearable. While a cleaner at a factory, Martha endures the factory workers’ sexual and verbal abuse. Which sibling does the title, which is defined as a person obsessed with their power, refer to?
When a movie takes a real-life historical event then reimagines an alternate, ensuing chain of events, the filmmaker is telling a story about how they see the world as it is and what they wish the world could be, which is what makes “Megalomaniac” more disturbing. In real-life, if the Butcher of Mons was identified, then he was not extradited and died while imprisoned for committing different criminal acts. There was no resolution. In writer and director Karim Ouelhaj’s world, he does not get caught, and he has a warped family unit who (on some level) loved him and each other. It is a twisted way of living, but if one firmly fits the rose-colored glasses on, Felix feeds his sister, makes sure that she gets her medicine and tries to give her what she wants. Of course, he creates an abusive relationship through food by commanding her to eat everything then chides her for being “fat,” an issue that other, more abusive men use to protest too much their desire to have power and control over her. Also if he was not a serial killer and a controlling brother who believed that he has the right to make a grown woman do something, maybe Martha would not have so many problems. There is such a dearth of images of male family members caring for the women in their family that the dissonance of a brutal serial killer also being a brother who does not yell and helps a family member is a counterintuitive mix.
There is a theory that all art depicts four states of being: heaven, hell, Eden, or post-fall. “Megalomaniac” is a post fall world. Ouelhaj creates a world viewed predominantly through warped, damaged characters’ eyes. These siblings are mentally damaged because a serial killer raised them regardless of whether he is biologically related. Any subsequent mental health diagnosis feels reactive, not inherent to the lottery nature of biology. They are the only example of family represented on screen, so family is represented as just as dangerous as the outside world.
Martha, the protagonist, is so meek and withdrawing it is painful. Responses to danger are automatic. People cannot control whether they will respond by fighting, fleeing, fawning, or freezing; however, living with serial killers all her life, Martha has been groomed on some level to never flee or fight, which explains her reaction to the factory’s inhospitable environment, which exacerbates her mental state. She is all fawn and freeze. “Megalomaniac” reveals that when Martha is alone, this woman is seething with as much brutality as her brother, but can only direct it at herself and is desperate to find a way to direct it outside of herself.
All aspects of life seem similarly infected or decaying. This world feels hostile to nature. There are no animals in this film so beware when Martha asks for a cat. Fields are verdant but are desiccated and damaged underneath power lines. There is a powerful image of a man, Felix, standing in the distance on the verdant field looking down at the highway with a car driving down the highway-too high to know that a woman is driving, but she is. This film is not about logic, but has an oneiric, nightmare quality. How can Felix know that his prey is in the car? How will he get her out? It makes him like a bird of prey. There is only one scene which reveals the connective tissue between Felix choosing his next victim and how he subdues them and gets them to a different location. There is a church scene with religious icons stare impassively as Felix assesses his next target, whom in the next edited shot, is screaming underneath Felix in the daytime, out in the open without any explanation how they moved from the church to that area without anyone noticing.
Felix is the most extreme example, but “Megalomaniac” shows a world of #allmen. Men dominate others in the film regardless of gender. Either men are abusive or allow abuse to happen. Women draw the shortest stick. There are women characters in the film, but when they are alone, they are prey or potential prey. The only women who seem invulnerable are two women dressed in red abaya walking together, and they seem to view Martha with suspicion; however, they are not untouched from this dynamic since one of the passing women appear to have an eye issue.
There is a redemptive arc of sorts. Through Martha’s proximity to power, the most abusive men or victimizers of women, she derives some strength, but it starts with her parroting the misogyny directed at her then she escalates her actions. “Megalomaniac” feels like an allegory for women in patriarchy, but it also continues the tradition of New Extreme Films, which were predominantly coming out of France. American torture porn enthusiasts would rock themselves in a fetal position after checking out this genre. New Extreme Films are recognizable for their graphic images of violence, particularly rape. Just because a filmmaker depicts a horrific act, does not mean the filmmaker is condoning it. When there is a broad range of choices of genres and subject matter that can be covered, it does mean something when a filmmaker chooses such a genre and has the capacity to create such imagery. One argument in favor of New Extreme Films is the lack of ambiguity. Violence is wrong and has an irreversible effect on everyone: the perpetrator, the victim, the families of both even if there is a revenge plot line. Revenge proliferates violence instead of being treated as redemptive, restorative or an act of justice. Martha’s journey to become empowered fractures her. The film contrasts the siblings’ fantasy life. Her brother daydreams about his past kills. Martha sees looming, threatening, three-dimensional, viscous covered shadows emerging from the walls like J horror spectres, but as she gets more empowered, they merge into orgy, cheerleading bystanders of her taboo sexual fantasy.
Women bear the brunt of Martha’s anger. “Megalomaniac” is such a demented film that the most acceptable audience surrogates are the siblings’ female victims. These people’s stunned reactions and powerlessness while witnessing this dangerous spectacle may echo the audience’s reaction. Shout out to social worker Ms. Connecci who started promising and got the hell out of there when she heard a bizarre noise. Note to viewers: if someone appears to need help, call for help, then intervene, but probably best to get the hell out of there and return in numbers before helping.
When it is time for revenge, it is wholly unsatisfying except for continuing the #allmen theme and framing of a serial killer as more of an ally than the only male character who never physically harmed a woman. The denouement is a bookend to the opening sequence. In contrast to Felix and Martha’s initial meeting, the final image suggests that the needle moved forward in terms of warmth and stepping away from sociopathy, but at what price?
Side note: The IMDb description referenced Manichaeism, and huh? A brief Google search was insufficient to enlighten me. If anyone wants to elaborate on this point, reach out.
