Set in a Swedish boarding school, Erik was expelled from his last school for fighting, but now history is now repeating. Erik believes in personal freedom, not liking being told how to live, so when the sixth form student council sets to bring Erik into line, being a smart ass and constantly disobeying; bloody fights ensue.
Erik's rebellion though stems from his family. His father is dead and his mother is seeking new love. Her new boyfriend is an oppressive and abusive aristocrat, dealing out whippings to Erik over minor matters.
The Student council deal out their usual hazing to the freshmen, but Erik is the first one to ever stand up for himself and break tradition. In this school the law is not dealt by the teachers, its the student council who hand out punishments, the teachers scream ignorance to this, never taking care nor notice. The punishments range from the simple to the very dangerous.
Evil is a great look on friendship, freedom, punishment and a view on totalitarianism. Its 'The Experiment' set within 'Dead Poets Society' with abit of 'sleepers' for good measure. You start to wonder why people are given powers that can deal out such brutal punishments that can be such life threatening.
At times this film can be very dark, yet it does have trouble holding onto this. During the scenes of brutality, its quite confronting, but most of the time its very lite and does have a hard time keeping your attention; if it had let the violence poke it head out more often it would have been a lot more disturbing and a lot more powerful. The fights here are quite bloody and brutal, director Mikael Håfström wasn't afraid to throw some blood around the walls.
It kinda mind blowing that this was based on actual events.
Erik's rebellion though stems from his family. His father is dead and his mother is seeking new love. Her new boyfriend is an oppressive and abusive aristocrat, dealing out whippings to Erik over minor matters.
The Student council deal out their usual hazing to the freshmen, but Erik is the first one to ever stand up for himself and break tradition. In this school the law is not dealt by the teachers, its the student council who hand out punishments, the teachers scream ignorance to this, never taking care nor notice. The punishments range from the simple to the very dangerous.
Evil is a great look on friendship, freedom, punishment and a view on totalitarianism. Its 'The Experiment' set within 'Dead Poets Society' with abit of 'sleepers' for good measure. You start to wonder why people are given powers that can deal out such brutal punishments that can be such life threatening.
At times this film can be very dark, yet it does have trouble holding onto this. During the scenes of brutality, its quite confronting, but most of the time its very lite and does have a hard time keeping your attention; if it had let the violence poke it head out more often it would have been a lot more disturbing and a lot more powerful. The fights here are quite bloody and brutal, director Mikael Håfström wasn't afraid to throw some blood around the walls.
It kinda mind blowing that this was based on actual events.