Jerzy Skolimowski’s excellent thriller Essential Killing provided Vincent Gallo an opportunity to demonstrate his acting talent in a pure form. After being rendered deaf by an explosion within the first few moments, there was no need for him to, as one reviewer remarked, “whine and complain” throughout the rest of the film. Essential Killing is taking its sweet time getting to a “theater near you” or anywhere else off the festival circuit. One would suspect that this delay is, at least in part, due to the film’s empathetic portrayal of a lone Taliban fighter’s struggle to survive against the military might of the US. The first theatrical release will hit theaters in the UK on April 1st. Will it be released stateside at all?

We had very light turnout for Essential Killing… perhaps because, even though the film is in English, it is officially a Polish film? Polish films are not generally big crowd drawers. No matter. On the plus side of only having a few guests, I was able to make amends to Alex, whose request for a Hot Pretty Lady had been met with a full-house eye-roll a few weeks back!

More about this film on IMDb