Film Forum

(1992) The teenage title character (Arno Frisch, “Paul” from FUNNY GAMES), from a wealthy family, spends his days obsessively renting and watching videotapes. Often left alone by his parents, he finds an emotional substitute by staring at the screen. His sense of reality gradually altered, when he meets a girl of his own age, he takes her home and shares one of his favorite videos. What begins as a shy love story ends in horror – and now Benny’s family must reckon with the consequences. 35mm print courtesy of Janus Films.

Reviews

“Quietly chilling.”
– Geoff Andrew, Time Out

“What gives the film a chilly authenticity is the creepy performance of Arno Frisch in the title role. Cool and unsmiling, with a dark inscrutable gaze, his Benny is the apotheosis of what the author George W. S. Trow has called ‘the cold child,’ or an unfeeling young person whose detachment and short attention span have been molded by television.”
– Stephen Holden, The New York Times