Moebius (Kim Ki-duk, 2013)

6.5/10
I've never seen a Kim Ki-duk movie, but as I understand it he's South Korea's master provocateur. His early films like The Isle and Bad Guy drew heavy criticism for their perceived misogyny and squirm-inducing violence, often perpetrated on women. It seems he had quieted down in recent years but roared back this year with Moebius, which was banned in South Korea almost immediately (a decision since overturned).
It starts off with quite a bang - a woman discovers her husband's cheating ways. Entering his bedroom with a knife she attempts to castrate him. He fends her off and she, still seething with rage, enters their son's bedroom, castrates him instead and devours the member. The film them follows the son's attempt to have "normal" relationships (proving disastrous for others) and the father's survivor guilt (which manifests itself in curious ways). And the mother's inevitable return.
It is a strange movie, not just for the plot but also for the fact that the 90-minute movie is completely dialogue free. Not a silent movie, just no one talks. There is the obvious reading into silence in the context of abuse, or of abuse victims (and observers), and it's easy to see this as a condemning of South Korean society at large. The title also seems to be a clear reference, not just to the mirrored beginning and ending of the movie (without spoiling anything) but also the cyclical nature of abuse that is without beginning or end.
The movie has a little more to say (no pun intended) about sexual politics, guilt, and abuse than I detailed here, though it's not a grand statement and it's hard to believe Ki-duk isn't mostly just intentionally living up to his provocateur status with the shocking imagery in the movie. The film is even blackly comic at times - a scene involving a (different) castrated member winding up in the middle of a busy street and its owner looking on helplessly weirdly recalls Mrs. Doubtfire doing the same when Robin Williams knocks his mask off a window ledge.
I wouldn't call Moebius a particularly brilliant movie, and it's technically pretty unpolished, but at the very least it's certainly an original and interesting experience