I will completely honest, I wasn’t ready for Megalomaniac.
Right from the outset, this is French extremity with a capital E.
It begs the question, how do you escape your family legacy, especially when your father was a notorious serial killer?
In Martha’s case, she lives an unstable and abused life whilst her brother Felix decides to carry on the killing spree.
To say Megalomaniac is violent and bloody would be putting it lightly; this is truly harrowing stuff.
Martha has vivid dreams of the victims of her father’s crimes but also envisions punishing those who have done her harm.
One of the most deplorable scenes is Martha’s rape at the hands of a man in the toilets she is cleaning. Its so unflinching and brutal it will stay with you for days after.
While a character study in some sense, Megalomaniac is so bizarre and frightening it is also part serial killer study with Felix’s crimes as twisted as his father’s.
There is no moral high ground, Megalomaniac is designed to be nasty and unsettling, and it achieves all of the above.
Be prepared this is not for the faint of heart.
Megalomaniac screens as part of Grimmfest 2022.
Bloody Flicks 