Wow, that came out of nowhere for me. A surprise, and what a positive one. Released in 2021, 2022 here in Germany only at the Fantasy Film Festival, unfortunately only there on the big screen, now here on disc. What a shame, especially when you see what rubbish finds its way into cinemas, and that's where this film really belongs.
Essentially, in terms of content, a European superhero variant, or better here also differentiated from the Hollywood counterpart: People with special abilities / characteristics. So less pathos and more real life. If you had to describe the basic vibe, I too would like to quote Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" or De La Iglesia's "Mad Circus", or of course the classic Tod Browning's "Freaks". With a bit of cinematic justice, "Freaks Out" will also reach aforementioned jams.
The whole thing is packed with versatile and memorable characters in a story that never gets boring or loses the thread, which serves many genres: fantasy, horror, historical film, war film, fairy tale, thriller, action, drama, adventure. Wow, that's almost all of them. There's even a bit of romance and, without question, comedy.
As a German, I must of course single out Franz Rogowski, (once again) what a performance! With him, I always wonder for a moment how he can be here on screen, but then follows a performance that always more than dispels all these questions, almost sweeps them away. Without question our best man at the moment!
