OK, this movie is not for you if you are squeamish, delicate, easily upset, uptight, prudish, straitlaced, fastidious, nauseous, woozy, queasy, easily offended, anxious, stuffy, priggish, morally strict, conservative, conventional, unadventurous, or old-fashioned. If there's anyone left reading, let's get on with our discussion of Antichrist.

Antichrist examines the turmoil occurring in the lives of a couple, whose names we never learn (they are referred to as "He" and "She" in the subtitles). As the film opens, He (Willem Dafoe) and She (Charlotte Gainsbourg) are having sex while their toddler child (Storm Acheche Sahlstrom) is left unattended and dies in an accident. Following the funeral, She is understandably distraught and has a very difficult time dealing with the grief. He is a very rational therapist, and acts as if the death has effected him at all. Instead, He attempts to help his wife by using his therapeutic skills to deal with her grief and anxiety. He learns that she has issues revolving around their vacation cabin, which they call Eden. He decides that he must take her to Eden to face her fears. Once there, they do some exercises to help her, and She appears to be getting better. However, there are some odd things happening around the cabin involving trees and animals, and when He finds some materials related to the thesis on which She had been working, He begins to fear that things may get worse.

Antichrist comes from Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier, who has made a name for himself with films like Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, and Dogville. The only von Trier project which I'd previously seen was The Kingdom, a fascinating TV mini-series he made. From this, I had an idea of what to expect, as he's not afraid to push the boundaries in filmmaking, storytelling, and the audience's perceptions. However, knowing this still didn't prepare me for the oddity which is Antichrist.

The story here is told in chapters, each of which has a different tone. The Prologue, which portrays the child's death, is shot in black and white. The scene is accompanied by operatic music and it is extremely poetic and, in truth, beautiful. This approach actually diffuses the terrible incident which we are witnessing. (My wife is usually quite leery of anything involving the death of a child, but even she wasn't terribly upset by how this is depicted.) Chapter 1 deals with She's grief. We see her break-down at the funeral (and this is one of only two shots which contains actors other than Dafoe and Gainsbourg), and then we see He trying to talk her through her pain. Some of this is a bit oddly shot, but as far as the narrative is concerned, it is all pretty straightforward. In Chapter 2, He and She travel to Eden. With this, the photography and sound begin to change, and things begin to get odd. Storywise, He begins to see odd things happening around the cabin, especially with animals. However, these things aside, the story of a couple attempting to deal with their grief isn't too strange. There are even some ideas in the story which make us wonder if a mystery or twist-ending may be afoot.

And then we get to Chapter 3. As someone who hates spoilers, I would never provide an in-depth description of what goes on in the last act of the film. But, even if I did, you wouldn't believe me or you would be convinced that I was on drugs. What had been a somewhat arty, but still coherent movie takes a huge turn to left field in Chapter 3. While some of it makes logical sense, most of what we witness feels as if it came from a demented dream. The violence portrayed here is nothing short of shocking and the movie suddenly feels as if it's become The War of the Roses as directed by Takashi Miike (which using notes from Jorg Buttgereit). Even the most die-hard horror fan will be taken aback by some of the atrocities committed here. The ending goes beyond ambiguous, leaving the viewer to question what they have just witnessed. I won't even talk about Chapter 4.

There's no denying that Antichrist is a mesmerizing piece of work and that von Trier certainly has a talent for creating visuals. As noted above, the film is split into chapters, and the violence and intensity of the movie increases until it reaches an extended crescendo during the climax. The problem is that the movie is too unbalanced. Antichrist reminded me a great deal of the work of David Lynch, whom I consider to be the master of surreal cinema. Lynch has made a career of making films which show some odd things, but they are slightly familiar as well. But, then, something shocking will suddenly happen. Lynch then lets that energy dissipate as the audience is left to deal with what has happened. von Trier keeps punching the audience to the point where the movie nearly loses credibility. The final shocking act, while it sort of makes narrative sense, is so graphic that most viewers will totally check out. While I have no problem with graphic violence, this shot is like a huge "screw you" to the viewer who has stuck it out for this long. The movie's soundscape is also very reminiscent of the work of Lynch.

Antichrist shows both the pros and cons of making surreal, experimental films. The first half of the movie demonstrates that a movie can show real-life situations with an artistic twist. However, things get too jumbled in the second half and von Trier makes the mistake of throwing too many ideas at the audience. I hate to say that I wish that the movie had been more streamlined, because that may sound pedestrian, but that would have resulted in more satisfying experience. The movie wants to make some interesting points about the nature of marriage and the link between sex and violence, but most viewers will be too put off to focus on this. von Trier has stated that he made this movie at the end of his depression, but it appears at the beginning of ours.

Antichrist never gives us clear-cut idea of where the title comes from on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of The Criterion Collection. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc carries an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 25 Mbps. The image is very sharp and clear, showing no overt grain and no defects from the source material. The colors look fantastic, most notably the lush greens which surround the cabin, and the black and white photography shows great contrast. The picture is never overly dark or bright. The picture shows a nice crispness, and this lends it superior depth. The level of detail is good as well, as we can make out the textures on objects. The Disc contains a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 3.5 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo effects are nicely done and help to portray sounds from off-screen. The subwoofer is active throughout the film, and at times, the rumbling overpowers other sounds. However, I was disappointed by the surround sound. Given the obvious work put into the film's sound, the rear speaker effects are weak, and never make themselves known.

The Antichrist Blu-ray Disc contains a selection of extras. We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Director Lars von Trier and film scholar Murray Smith. This is a pretty good commentary, but von Trier doesn't provide many of the answers which we would want to hear. "Cast and Director Interviews" is broken into three parts. "Confessions about Anxiety" (5 minutes) has von Trier talking about his own issues with anxiety and how they have influenced his filmmaking. He also mentions that a bout of depression made him consider giving up on making movies. "Charlotte Etc." (44 minutes) has the actress (speaking in French) discussing how she got involved in the film and her experiences working on the movie. She is very frank about her view of von Trier and the movie itself. "Willem Dafoe: Agent of Fantasy" (18 minutes) gives the actor a chance to talk about how he reached out to von Trier to be in the film and what it's like to work with the director. On the ending, "I don't have to know what it means." "The Making of Antichrist" is split into seven sections and there's no PLAY ALL option. "Behind the Test Film" (7 minutes) shows how von Trier tested unique ways to shoot the movie. "Visual Style" (16 minutes) offers comments from the filmmakers who not only talk about the look of the film (and how important this is), but how von Trier's notes and storyboards (including a timeline written on a wall) were utilized in making the movie. "Sound and Music" (13 minutes) has Sound Designer Kristian Eidnes Andersen describing how the film's "music" was actually just sampled sounds mixed together. He talks about the originality of the sound in the film, which tells me that he hasn't seen many David Lynch movies. Production Designer Kark "Kalli" Juliusson takes us on a tour of the cabin in "Eden - Production Design" (5 minutes). This is intercut with comments on how the location was discovered. "Makeup Effects and Props" (8 minutes) takes us behind the scenes to see how the special effects makeup and interesting props for the third act were created. This contains some nice on-set footage. "The Three Beggars" (8 minutes) looks at how the live animals were trained and used in the film. "The Evil of Woman" (8 minutes) looks at the materials which were used in the movie, including many historical pictures, which were used to illustrate the thesis being written by the female character. "Cannes 2009" is a three part extra...again with no PLAY ALL. "Chaos Reigns at the Cannes Film Festival" (7 minutes) is made up of footage following von Trier through Cannes, including interviews and photo ops. We also get snippets from a Q&A. "Charlotte Gainsbourg at Cannes" (6 minutes) is an interview with the actress done at the film festival. "Willem Dafoe at Cannes" (8 minutes) echoes many of the comments made in the previous interview with the actor. Finally, we have three TRAILERS for the film.