Jerzy Skolimowski's survival tale benefits from a steady, muted performance by VIncent Gallo.

The story of survival of a man from, what we presume, Afghanistan lost in the middle of the taïga of Siberia. Not a killer by choice, a killer for survival, for the essential. Vincent Gallo is truly a good actor, it is too bad we don't see him enough. Not a must see but a good film.

As purely a visceral thriller it goes well at first but tapers off a bit ineffectually, and the lack of context switches from being a strength, to joining the budget as a limitation. Instead of building some sort of narrative, you flounder around making wilder and ever weaker guesses, until you give up and wait powerless for the inevitable.

Beautiful scenery and I liked the sound effects/texture especially all the small sounds like snow crunching. Made me think about the war on terror from another perspective for a minute. I liked how we got to see everything from this characters POV and came to empathize for him a bit (though I was never routing for him). Makes you wonder about how you might deal with that. I don't know how I would have made out after the messing up my foot. Loved the lack of dialogue

A good film that gives you the first part excitements and ends with scenes of silence while the protagonist struggles.

Essential Killing is a little bit like an extreme episode of Man Versus Wild, shot by a master director. Jerzy Skolimowski, Famous director from the 70's is back with a piece of work that will definitely not appeal to mainstream audience. This is a film strip bare to the bones with a straight forward story. A man is on the lose and trying to survive in a very hostile and unknown environment to him. Gallo is perfect and gives everything he has to his director who pushes the boundaries quite far. The scene of breast feeding was a climax of rawness and primal instinct. If you are a fan of this type of film you will probably enjoy the superb photography, the beautiful scenery and the minimalistic vibe. It's definitely not a film for everyone but it deserves a look.

Vincent Gallo's performance was electrifying!

An escaped convict from Afghanistan on a land he does not know..against everyone and everything trying to survive a few more minutes at a time..Do not expect explosions, the movie's style is more enigmatic and meditative. No words spoken , exceptional powerful and poetic.

As there is little dialogue my review will be the same.

Two words you will often read in reviews of this film are "existential" and "thriller". This is probably a good description of the film, although it bears noting that there is almost no dialogue in the entire film. (Which is pretty cool, considering how well it keeps you involved.) The main sticking point is that we are forced to root for the bad guy. No come-uppance? Well, it's an indie.

As an art piece this works really well - Atmospheric, engaging, etc but it's a touch too long and has little story to back up the visuals...watch it on your own, it's not really a 'discuss it at length' afterwards movie.

So. I'm sitting here thinking to myself, how much I loved everything in this movie until the very end. There was so much to like. First, the MAIN CHARACTER IS A TALIBAN! And you root for him! How the fuck?! Awesome idea! 2nd, there is barely any dialogue. AWESOME. Third it is a fugitive, man on the run, movie. ALSO AWESOME. There are a few moments where he gets a bit too lucky. (Where the fuck did that Helicopter go?) And some moments were just plain awkward. (You know it when you see it) But what really knocked this movie down a few notches was the unsatisfying ending. I get how they tied it into his dreams, but it definitely needed more of a bow tie at the end. Great Concept. Solid execution.

it is an essential viewing for all movie lovers. a survival movie delivered with barely any dialogue and only with the help of video and audio effects. amazing work by the director.

The meditative, subversive and provocative thriller, "Essential Killing," is about the hunt for a suspected terrorist(Vincent Gallo), told almost entirely from his point of view. Except like in real life and the movie, things are not so simple. We first see him in a cave, trembling before killing two American contractors(Zach Cohen & Iftach Ophir) and their escort, who are there off-book and quite possibly involved in drug smuggling, in order to escape. Soon after this, he is captured and processed at an airbase and cleaned up. He is shouted at by an American officer(David Price) and might answer if not for all the ringing in his ears from the explosion. All of which resembles a production line more than anything else.(This is not the only time the movie references "Brave New World" by the way.) Since the waterboarding produces no results, he is shipped with others to Poland. In any case, this makes for a poor first impression. His escape into the snowy wilderness occurs when the army convoy comes across a literal pack of road hogs, causing the truck he is in to go over the side of the road and overturning. At which point, the conflict becomes less man vs. man than man vs. nature, as the former prisoner makes a bid to live off the land like the hunters and fishermen he sees with one extreme example thrown in for good measure.(Considering how much he seems to know about the flora, it would probably come as no surprise that he has done some hunting himself.) At the same time, we get glimpses of a past, happier existence.

Gallo gives an amazing performance, without uttering a word. Awesome Fugitive remake.