A respectable man hides a monstrous secret in this harrowing drama from Austrian filmmaker
Markus Schleinzer. Michael (
Michael Fuith)
is a seemingly average man in his mid-thirties who works for an
insurance firm. He is good at his job, is friendly with his co-workers,
gets along well with his siblings, and has a tidy home in the suburbs.
But Michael is also a sexual predator obsessed with young boys, and he
hides a ten-year-old child, Wolfgang (
David Rauchenberger),
in his cellar as his slave. He frequently tells Wolfgang that his
parents don't want him back, and while he takes good care of the boy, he
also forces the child to have sex with him whenever he wishes.
Michael
follows the title character's double life over the course of five
months, as he presents the image of an ordinary man to the world during
the day and gives free reign to his ugliest desires at night.
Michael was an official selection at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
