Feel Bad Movies, A Young Man With High Potential

A Young Man with High Potential follows a brilliant but socially stunted young man named Piet. This is one for fans of feel-bad cinema, definitely not your typical uplifting narrative. Piet spends most of his time geeking out over computer science, particularly on how to mask his digital footprint. It’s his passion, his obsession, maybe even his only real connection to the world.

In his downtime, he hires a camgirl to eat strawberries on camera and occasionally downs a handful of sleep meds. Piet is clearly struggling, isolated, anxious, and showing signs of agoraphobia. It’s no surprise he hasn’t had many real-life relationships and is still a virgin. Then one day, Klara, a bright, confident woman who’s been following his work, shows up at his door, setting things in motion.

Husband & Wife, Masters of the Feel-Bad Film

The film is directed by Linus de Paoli and co-written by his wife. After watching the deeply unsettling climax, I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of dinner-table conversations led to this story. This marks the couple’s second feature film, following 2011’s Dr. Ketel.

A Young Man With High Potential Full Movie Trailer

I received this film as a screener, one of the perks of writing about movies, and it definitely left an impression. If you want to bail and go and watch A Young Man with High Potential, you can find streaming options below the rating.

Feel Bad Movies for Those That Like That Kind of Thing

Whatever you think of Piet in the first half of the film, it quickly changes after his introduction to Klara. He becomes likable and interesting, and you can see he’s thinking his whole life has turned around. An erroneous burden on someone who has found a kindred spirit of interests and discovered a meeting of the minds with someone so available. The tonal elements and shifts within the film’s structure make this story particularly memorable. The balance teeters back and forth because, from an outsider’s perspective looking in, it’s easy to gauge exactly what’s happening. Performances between Paulina Galazka and Adam Ild Rohweder as Klara and Piet, respectively, are on point.

Without this beautiful rhythm, the fevered error by Piet wouldn’t be so ugly. While there isn’t a whole lot of important things happening on screen, it’s easy to wonder why she didn’t notice that he liked her. What’s going to happen simply because we know he’s unstable. It’s why this grimy horror

Unpleasant Content In A Young Man With High Potential

This is not a film for the everyday casual movie watcher. The themes within the film are shocking and sexually charged. Those without the stomach for scenes with assaults of this nature should steer well clear, even though they are only momentary compared to how Piet deals with the consequences of his error. I somehow made it through this one, and the ensuing carnage is quite the thing.

Additionally, there are quite a few underlying commentaries to be found within the structure of the film, and I guess it’s up to the viewer how they want to look at it. Whether to see it as an ‘old news story’ reference, it’s how people talk about smart youngsters who make grievous spur-of-the-moment decisions that end with their lives in tatters. Or perhaps you simply view it as a story of misogyny wrapped up in the repercussions of living your life online.

To clarify, it’s not a feel-good movie; however, it is well-made, well-filmed, and well-structured. Those who love the dark side of humanity will enjoy this. There is plenty here to take away from it.

I give A Young Man with High Potential

3 socially inept virgins out of 5