Bullhead
The Belgian actor plays [Matthias Schoenaerts] Jacky, a buff, 30-year-old loner who helps his uncle run the family meat manufacturing business, which relies on a steady supply of growth hormone for its cattle. Everything goes south when their crooked vet suggests supplying beef to a new client, Decuyper, who happens to be one of the biggest hormone traffickers in Flanders. Decuyper had the cop investigating him killed and now needs new ventures to throw the police off the scent of his previous operations.
Jacky is against the deal, especially after he sees Decuyper’s right-hand man Diederik. The two men have a history together (...).
[H]olding it all together, steering the film throughout (pun intended), is Schoenaerts. The actor [as Jacky] literally takes the metaphors of his bull-headed character to the limits and is never less than believable or mesmerizing. His head bowed low, always ready for a fight, Schoenaerts glares at the world from under his brow, making Jacky’s vulnerability (caused by a horrifying event 20 years ago) as palpable as his tremendous capacity for violence. Working from his own script, Roskam makes sure we feel for his monster.
Natasha Senjanovic, The Hollywood Reporter
Original title: Rundskop
Duration: 120 min
Dialogue: Dutch, French
Subtitles: English
Age limit: K15
