SciFiandScary Itay Tiran, who played the bridegroom, did a fabulous job. His transition from happy-go-lucky to (not so much) was better than any acting I've seen in American horror lately. He had me on the edge of my seat at times, and sitting back to admire the job he did at others. Covered in sweat and crushing a glass in his hand, or curled against a wall bleeding vulnerability, he sold it all. I can't say I'll deliberately go out of my way to look up films from this area again ('cause I'm lazy), but if I see his name in anything, I will check it out.The supporting actors all did a fantastic job as well, with Wlodzimierz Press giving my second favorite performance. He doesn't have a huge role, but it is a pivotal one. Every time the camera came to rest on his face you knew what he was thinking and feeling. It was in his eyes, the tilt of his lips, and his body language. I wanted to hug him.Acting, location, direction were almost spot on across the board in Demon. Not perfect, but great nonetheless. It was definitely a film that demanded your full attention. I just wish I knew what in the world had actually happened! Seriously. If you like Inception type endings, you need to see this film. It's been a ridiculously long time since we were able to walk out of a movie completely baffled (in a good way) about how something wrapped up. There were a lot half-started sentences, hand-gestures, and whuffed breaths involved in the hashing out of that ending on the ride home. All that, and no resolution either.I will say that Demon is not your typical possession film. If you're expecting pea soup and head rotation, you'll need to look elsewhere. There are no dramatic scenes involving levitation, dramatic invocations of god's name, etc. It's an atypical take on the subject that is completely refreshing.I have a theory, of course, but I can't say because I don't want to spoil it for anyone! Now, if only I could figure out if I actually liked the movie or not

airsnob This movie could have been so good. Great acting , atmosphere, insight, writing. It was a treat to see something so Polish. You really get to visit a small polish town and meet the locals here. But they just went so far off into left field with the plot. First of all, it's not the normal possession film. The groom gets possessed by a ghost. Not a demon. In fact it's weird that the title of the movie and everyone thinks this is about a demon.. a meek, sweet, murdered Jewish girl isn't a demon! The movie just went a little south.. misdirected. The entire thing. From the title , to how characters reacted and handled the mishap, the end, it just wasted itself. It isn't a horror movie at all. It's a drama . It might be a comedy in Poland, but in America it isn't. The humor is polish and drunk. So it misses a beat there just with the cultural lost in translation thing. I think there is a subtle prejudice too throughout this movie and I can't honestly tell if it's a good thing or a bad.. I can't tell if they are serious or if they are trying to show how bad prejudice is. I also sort of fast forwarded the end of the movie but as far as I could tell, there was no big town secret that came out. TNhe bride here really stole the show though. She is going to be a star if she doesn't get hooked on coke. She is talented , fetching , beautiful and charismatic.. if anything it's her showcase. Hopefully we will see her in more movies. Also the sad Jewish man was superb. The grooms performance was just .. weird. Like I said lots is lost in cultural translation , there is a lot here that we just don't get because we aren't polish. So would I rent it? No. Would I pay to go see this? No. I would say probably the only way this movie should be watched is if you're polish , want to go to a polish wedding, or if you enjoy foreign movies for the sake of being foreign. There really isn't a plot here, no mystery, no real character development that you want to see or know about, and no substance. Like I said, pretty much a waste of money, film and movie time. This should have been a play. It just isn't a film. And there isn't enough wackiness to make it an art house film either .. all in all, just blah and the ending was blah too. Nothing happened. Nothing is resolved . Obviously the writers here didn't attend a writing school... it was all very anticlimactic. It would have been nice if we found out who the ghost was, why she was there, who murdered her. Why she died. And also to have her either leave the groom, or be set free , something . Like I said I did fast forward the end, it just got so tedious that I wanted to see if anything actually happened and all that it seemed like happened was nothing. The groom takes off, never to be seen again and the end.

kristaz This is one of those movies that the trailer makes the movie look way better than it actually is. Having said that, this movie is not a disappointment, but it lacks a certain something...say a reason. Mostly this movie is an atmospheric romp through a really long Polish wedding that keeps getting chased around in circles either by the weather or by the family trying to hide the fact that the bridegroom is 'not feeling well'. The music in this film is fun and keeps the gaiety up and I did enjoy the juxtaposition of extreme happiness and utter despair as expressed via the lead actress. She was the only one who was not ready to give up on her lover, though, she, like everyone else, 'barely knew him.' I got the impression because the groom was so new to everyone that they were just ready to dump him and forget about him, and for that, this movie lacked a certain genuine humanity. The ending confirmed my suspicions. I also suspect that the director found himself in a dark place in his head after making this film and perhaps related a little too much to the lack of humanity and compassion in the world....

Shadowplayed The washed out, depressing landscape greets us at the beginning of this Polish film.Film promises the bleak journey into the heart of rural Poland where our self-assured protagonist (Pole living in England) expects to meet his wife to be, seal the deal and start a new life with his beautiful Polish bride.You gotta know a little something about Slavic weddings...they are drunken and unpredictable. Well, surely not all of them, but the mentality permits a bit of over-the-top behavior fueled by the good ole booze, for sure. Isn't it the same worldwide? Not like the rural Slavic wedding, no.Hence, aside from some hints it's not easy to determine what's wrong with the groom. Yeah, he's seeing the unmarked grave and the skeleton, he's seeing ghost of a Jewish girl, he's twitching and having seizures...yep, the guy's possessed.The story goes back and forth from in-laws trying to cover up the groom's bad state to dancing and drinking, but he's in such a bad shape it's no longer possible to hide. Finally the old Jewish professor attending the wedding gets called to examine the man, but....The story ends before it has gotten a proper explanation, bit of backstory, just pieces of a dream, hints and photographs. We are left to fill in the blanks on our own, but it was an interesting ride, and the "clinging spirit" does not let go of a marked soul.If you compare this possession film to (traditionally filmed) American films in the same vein, it's very different, and therein the key to the East European cinematography appreciation lies. It's extremely realistic, bleak, the mud is muddy and the sky is overcast; nothing is either romanticized or glamorous, rather very raw. There lies the dramatic effect, cause the world where the characters live is very much 'real', never dreamy, not even for supernatural activities' sake. The complexity of everyday life is stressed in all its ordinary, fleshy glory.I find the dybbuk legend to be very interesting, it mostly appears in old German and Polish films, but like every demon it has its needs and its path, much like any other you're likely to encounter in western cinematography. Those demons, they all want the same, a living being to cling to and possess their soul so that the body can become a vessel. What then...well, I guess it's nice to be among humans again! Also, the most interesting thing here is the stark contrast between the world of living and the dead, the joy and sorrow, which can become one, which always live side by side, as one of the final shots reveal nicely. Nice film to ponder on, surely open to interpretation and one that demands multiple viewings to fully appreciate.