Internationally acclaimed but – according to yours truly – rather dull and monotonous psycho-thriller that exclusively revolves on sex… and obviously not the tender and romantic type. The odd and almost naturally born creepy Kristoffer Joner (Edward Furlong's brother from a Norwegian mother) stars as a guy embittered because his girlfriend left him for another man. Whilst bickering with himself, John is lured to his neighbors' apartment, supposedly to move a closet. However, the two girls living next door seem to know an awful lot about the relational issues which led to his John's break-up with Ingrid, and they simultaneously suck him into a wicked game of seduction and deception. A moment alone with the kinky Kim leads to a vile and aggressive sex session, but is John really as shocked and upset from this as he seems? Also when Ingrid's new lover Ake enters the scene, it more and more seems as if John is the one with crazy and dangerous fetishes. Nearly everyone compares this Norwegian movie with the finer work of David Lynch, especially in terms of characters' complexity and setting. As an avid Lynch- fanatic, especially of his earliest work, I simply must contradict. The pivot characters are definitely messed up, but also one- dimensional and superficial. "Next Door" is only about sex and we don't get to know anything else about John or the others like, for example, what they do for a living and why they never interacted with each other before. Are we supposed to believe that John never noticed two young and incredibly attractive girls living next to him before? The plot doesn't indicate that they only just moved in, so he only has eye for them now that he's single again? And yes, the settings are undeniably weird, but also unrealistic. What kind of apartment has such narrow passageways or claustrophobic rooms? The infamous sex sequences are raw and brutal, I admit, but they honestly aren't nearly as sick or disturbing as most of the reviews claim them to be. Also, it's my humble and personal opinion that these people bleed rather easily and much quicker than would be the case in real life. I can't say that "Next Door" is overrated, because it still remains a modest little Norwegian cult effort, but among the people who have seen it, it's definitely over-hyped!

Spoilers lie herein...Wow.. a rather short film. Quite simply put, I did find it a strong message on how violence somehow needs to be justified by the psyche through re-creating the experience with a more palatable guise. In other words, even psychosis needs to find its own safe haven. People commit absolutely abominable acts, but this indeed stems from an impulse that, at some point, makes perfect sense to them. But sometimes even the rawness of the act per se is intolerable and needs to be masked as something else. In the case of this film (stop reading if you haven't seen it yet), he murdered his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend. The acts were brutal, but his consciousness splintered (to a certain degree) in order to create a delusion that would not be as shocking to his fragile mind.. in the case of the sexual violence, it was justified by the overt sexual advances of Kim and her repeated beating of John; in this light, he had "permission" to hit back, thereby allowing justification of what ensued. People kill when their own survival is threatened... John saw his own definition of self in peril... that is, a relationship with a woman who satisfied his perverse whims (creating outlandish tales of past sexual experiences).. when she threatened to leave him, his life as he knew it was jeopardized, and he needed to kill off the double threat (Ingrid and Ake).. as it is, this perverse view of self is what kept his psychosis encapsulated and, when it was shattered, he lost it. I loved the concept of the film, it drew me in less than I had hoped. I enjoyed the performance of Kristoffer Joner very much, but felt that some of the others' came off as strained. Very enjoyable nonetheless.. I did feel a twinge of sympathy for John.. his life will be one of seclusion till the end of his days.

Have not viewed many Norway films and I greatly enjoyed this story about a guy who just broke up with his girl friend and he is really down in the dumps and wishes things had worked out better between the two of them. This guy's name is John and he meets a young girl who lives next door to him and she asks him to do her a favor in moving a cabinet for her in front of the door. John thinks this very odd, however, he complies with the girl's wishes. There is another girl in the apartment and she does an outstanding job of trying to seduce John and the result is something you will have to find out when you watch this great drama. The music is fantastic and the Norwegians produced a great film.

This is right up there with Michael Haneke's Funny Games in the twisted creepy department. There's a surreal normalcy that pervades the proceedings even when they get completely bent. Something about the story though, after it is fully revealed, might take a little bit of the air out of your tires. You've seen it before and you'll see it again, but so what? This film is anything but predictable as you're being dragged through it. I'd wager an episode of Dallas that it isn't until after the final denouement that you'll feel like you knew where things had the possibility of going. If the ending does disappoint, it's because the entirety of everything that preceded it has you expecting more. Good films do that. Good films are like roller coasters: you can know where they start and where they end, and many of them are alike, but that doesn't prevent you from jumping on and enjoying a ride. Naboer is a well put together film with greasy, seductive characters, a thoughtfully subtle soundtrack, and an eerie set that seems to grow throughout the film mirroring the expanding recesses of a psychological mind-bender.By now, if you've heard of this film you've heard about the sex scene (I guess you'd call it a sex scene) where a man and woman bloody one another by sprinkling their lustful moves with punches to the face. If you haven't, now you have.Part of the intrigue of watching foreign films comes from the fact that they usually employ foreign actors. Duh. The visual cues to their personality makeup are different. This guy, Kristoffer Joner, who plays the seeming innocent, his face, his body language, they're confused yet curious dread personified. The girls, they're some kind of sleazy, sexy, creepy crawly mash-up teetering between repulsive and titillating. This might be a genre piece with a story arc you've seen before but I'll bet you've never seen it played like these players play it.More reviews at http://sitenoise-atthemovies.blogspot.com/