One of the most talked about films of the year, A Serbian Film comes to the UK riding an international wave of notoriety that has seen it overtly praised by some, the Montreal Gazette called it “A tortured film from a tortured collective psyche… a near-perfect portrait of torment.” – 4 Stars, and yet utterly condemned by others.

Scripted by Serbian horror film critic Aleksandar Radivojevic (screenwriter of the award winning ‘Tears For Sale’), the debut feature from director Srdjan Spasojevic is an allegorical, taboo shattering film that “follows French cinema pioneers Gaspar Noe (Irreversible) and Virginie Despentes (Baise-moi) in destroying the status quo regarding on-screen violence and sexuality” (Tim Anderson, BloodyDisgusting.com). A twisted tale of an adult film star’s horrifying descent into an almost unimaginable hell, Radivojevic himself describes the film as “a diary of our molestation by the Serbian government… It’s about the monolithic power of leaders who hypnotize you to do things you don’t want to do.”

Milos (Srdjan Todorovic) is a retired porn star leading a normal family life with his wife Maria (Jelena Gavrilovic) and six-year old son Petar in tumultuous Serbia, trying to make ends meet.


Aware of his problems, Layla (Katarina Zutic), a former co-star, introduces Milos to Vukmir (Sergej Trifunovic), a mysterious, menacing and politically powerful figure in the porn business who wants Milos to star in his latest project and is willing to pay him a fee that will provide financial support to Milos and his family for the rest of their lives. The only condition is that Milos signs a contract insisting on his absolute unawareness of the scripted scenes they are about to shoot. 


Encouraged by his wife to accept the job, Milos turns up for the first day of shooting and is immediately drawn into a maelstrom of unbelievable cruelty and mayhem devised by his employer, the ‘director’ of his destiny.


It soon becomes apparent that Vukmir and his crew will stop at nothing to complete his insane vision. The only way for Milos to escape the living cinematic hell he’s entered and to save his family life is to sacrifice everything to Vukmir’s art – his pride, his morality, his sanity, and maybe even his own life.


Confrontational, shocking, uncompromising, with hints of dark humour and absolutely unforgettable, A Serbian Film is “a well crafted, immensely indecent smut-slasher” (Variety) featuring a “remarkable performance by [Srdjan] Todorovic” (Fangoria) and is an affecting and thought provoking work of cinema that ranks alongside the likes of “Requiem For A Dream”, “Videodrome”, “Irreversible” and “Antichrist” as one of the most provocative films of its time.

A Serbian Film (cert 18) will open at UK cinemas on 10th December 2010.