maléfique be a very interesting movie . it be an unholy alloy of triumph and failure . the central concept be great and three inmate with bizarre personality be join by a fourth ( who the audience identify with ) and they try to escape from their cell use a book of magic that they find within the wall of the cell . the atmosphere be well woven and it remind me of read about the prison stay of edmond dante in the château dif ( prior to become the count of monte cristo ) . the director set up the feeling that the character be tie to the cell and particularly the character we be mean to identify with ( carrère a white collar criminal whose crime be not specify and but it obliquely suggest might be fraud ) . on one occasion carrère dither when leave the cell for exercise and have the cell door shut on him while we never leave the cell and the claustrophobia be unbroken . there be also no shot of the prison outside the cell and and the view through the bar be a longing sunset over a generic prison wall . so even though the film appear to be very modern and it have a very old world feel of incarceration . the character be intrigue . we have marcus and a violent pre op transsexual who play an abusive mother to pâquerette ( french for daisy ) a heavily retarded young man . pâquerette like to eat everything he find beautiful and and unfortunately this include his baby sister and hence his current predicament ( i like this comment on internalisation and very primitive ) . lasalle be a withdrawn and possess elderly man and in for brutally murder his wife . the central message of the movie be that your desire will annihilate you and and there a ritual that go with that . i think that what disturb me the most and see people destroy themselves ritualistically . it have a real life ring to it . the quite simple soundtrack back this up well and every step deeply into the quicksand be accompany by the dull ringing of a gong . i be actually hear the gong now every time i do something self destructive . i think one of the plot problem be that the end of the character do not really reinforce the message consistently and particularly with carrère and also the concept of the book seem to alter throughout the film and not in term of a successive revelation either . i also think that some of the image we see be a bit amateurish and more by design than execution and such a the famous vagina eye and and the sodomy of lasalle and for me and totally hollow image . at the end the movie it feel like the director be in a rush to get it over with and and some thing do not seem logical and for example we have be clumsily lead to believe different thing about carrère child . this doesn not change the fact though that what we have here be that rare bird and a pure horror movie . there be no comedic dross or genre segueing and like cube ( 1997 or natali ) and the obvious movie to compare it to and it a total immersion experience and where you feel a if you be in the cell with the character . this last comment i make about it be a pure experience i think be something others have mention as well so that be a fairly unanimous point . on a personal note my favourite part of the film be when lasalle talk about his past a a librarian . he very vividly describe a scene where he go to work one day and sit down in his usual place in the centre of a room where all the book be arrange in a circle around him . the book seem to be chant to him that he will never contain their knowledge . this prompt lasalle to go insane . that really be the problem with an obsession with understanding and knowledge . it something i myself have felt . one final comment be that two of the quite well received comment on the board have confuse the character names . to convince yourself that lasalle be the old librarian character and simply click on philippe laudenbach page and you will see he be bear in 1936 .