King of the Hill

Playing with perspective in an effort to aid didactics, King of the Hill proves interesting and occasionally tense but drags in the midsection from a lack of creativity and wags its moral finger a little too haughtily. Much of the film's appeal comes from trying to figure out just what the hell is going on, which would sustain it for most viewers, if the DVD jacket didn't give away far too many details. Following a brief rogering with a shoplifting stranger (Maria Valverde) in a gas station restroom, Quim (Leonardo Sbaraglia) finds himself lost on winding roads in some nearby woods, evading bullets from an unseen assailant. Initially doing logical things, like searching for a cell phone signal to call for help, our intentionally loathsome protagonist stumbles across the very stranger he got pelvic with earlier as she struggles with a flat tire. This convenience does indeed serve a thematic moral purpose, as do some particularly vile latter developments with the pair, as they struggle to stay alive. For the greater part of the narrative, the film seems to be just another version of The Most Dangerous Game, without a great deal of planning or strategy, as the hunted blindly flee from sporadic gunfire for the duration. In the third act, some deliberate camera work and a change in viewpoint reveal the true intentions of the film, slamming both the media and popular videogames for their ghoulish disposition. Some reflection on the human tendency to point fingers at everything other than themselves pop up as well, suggesting audience involvement in the greater ethical issue. As far as the DVD release goes, the only supplement is a French theatrical trailer, which seems appropriate, as the film speaks pretty well for itself.