'The Treatment'/'De behandeling' is a very strong, unsettling film, and with the exception of Markus Schleinzer's 'Michael' of three years earlier, it may be the best film about paedophilia. There are some action/crime conventions in the film that we have seen countless times, but the bravery of the film-making and performances of the actors are so powerful that you forgive the familiar territory; and tragically, in this era it's just about impossible to make a film without compromise and cliché anyway.There is a palpable malignancy to this Belgian film that is very rarely pulled off well without turning into cartoon -- you feel like you need to take a shower after it concludes. It would make for an incredible double feature with 'Michael', because both films tackle the same 'untouchable' subject in different ways and, amazingly, both manage to pull it off, but of course, most people can't deal with one film about child molestation let alone two back-to-back.'Cruel' film-making tends to go one of two ways: cynical cowardice ('Saw', 'The Human Centipede') or intellectual bravery ('Salò', 'Michael', Haneke). 'The Treatment's uncomfortable viewing fits comfortably into the latter camp.

I am a big admirer of modern Scandinavian and British crime films, but, from time to time, it is fresh and broadening to watch similar films from other countries. Belgian/Flemish ones are rather uncommon, but as I know Dutch and have been to Flanders as well, some joy of recognition and background information (e.g., national characteristics as well as topics that shocked the country) did help to follow De Behandeling from the "intimate" point of view.The script was smooth, the thrill was there, but I was not much impressed by the protagonist, Geert Van Rampelberg as Nick Cafmeyer - both performance-wise and character-wise, there were too many references to other individualistic policemen. Moreover, it was a clear a bit too early who the wrongdoer was and what was all about, so some distractions were not convincing and provided no additional value to the film, yet prolonging it... But still, if you like tense feature films without lots of shootings and chases, then De Behandeling is worth watching, at least for comparison.

I haven't written many reviews on here. I feel like I want to shout out about this movie. It left me with goosebumps! First Flemish movie I've watched and certainly now wont be my last.Amazing movie. Very well directed and acted. Really liked the main male character and you could feel his torment from what happened in his past.Don't want to give anything away but this truly is a must see movie but not for the feint hearted. Certainly not your typical run of the mill Hollywood movie which makes a nice change. Dark and disturbing....one of those movies that leaves you thinking... what if...

The film is, to any standards, incredibly well made technically and superbly acted by all actors (which explains the one point I gave it). But, what on earth was the rest of it?! It is one of the most unabashedly manipulative and exploitative films I've seen in a long time, and that includes American ones. This police story is trying desperately to reach a higher level of intensity and emotion by the cheapest of the cheapest means possible; the exclusive of the medieval-style fear our modern 'big bad wolf', 'boogie man', or 'witch'. Understand: 'the pedophile'. Yes, that unknown sadist gazing (upside down and from a roof...: we are never really explained how this is possible) who prey on, then attack defenseless small children . (they tried in the film to make it a pedophile 'ring' but that failed). Then to take us on this manipulation ride, we are force-fed child mutilations, real- time raped child post-mortems, pornographic child rape photos, etc. ad nausea. This film reminds of those drivers who stop their cars to look at mangled bodies in a car wreck... The list of crassness' are in-exhaustive: the lone policemen with a deeply personal motive solving the case all by himself (with bare hands in the end), cryptic symbols 'inadvertently' left by baddies, car number plates visible on found videos, a fully detailed and beautifully designed scrap-book created by the criminal (who is completely insane and unable to even keep his hands together), we even have …maps, yes maps that lead the goodie to the hidden treasure cove of evidence! Since I'm here to save you from having to see this piece of idiocy, one more crassness: the Big Bad Wolf, on his way to (indirectly) rape a small boy, takes a lift… and ..in comes a tiny 6 year old, alone. And we are supposed to feel 'fear'? All we feel is the stupidity of it: so now little 6 year old's take the lift down to the cellars ...alone? The only missing crassness was …there was not catholic priest involved in this inexistent 'pedophile ring'. Where was he in this film? They must have cut his scenes out. The film takes the audience manipulation so far as to force us to believe the swimming teacher (gazing longingly at little boys bodies underwater) is a pedophile, then told he ...isn't one at all. Shameful cheap tricks, truly.Some absurd moments? One minute the child victim at the end is screaming his head off as his father anal rapes him, then next second he is completely flaccid and lets himself taken quietly by B.B.W, without a sound, or a single movement. He is put down whilst B.B.W tries to kill the cop (with spit), and…just stays there! Literally waits for BBW to come back and take him away to ...(well, we don't really know to where, just somewhere). What?! The film gets so carried away by its blatant attempt to force-shock us, we are made to believe the child's fathers themselves were made to rape their sons... You mean to say that, half dead with fear, hunger and thirst, they manage to get an erection over their tiny son, penetrate them anally and get an orgasm enough to fill their cavities with their semen (and thus lead us to a false suspect again)?! What, what, what?!!! What are you on about?! What kind of sick joke is this grotesque film trying to sell? What kind of idiots does it take its viewers for? The entire film is carried by a detective-man who clearly belongs in an insane asylum, not as the head detective in charge of child crimes.We have not changed one bit since the witch hunts, people still exploit these themes and make money from it...Rather than exploit human fear and stupidity, why not, for once, make a film about the truly scary thing about this modern world? The real horror, the most atrocious suffering ever in our modern times. A film about the 95% of all crimes against kids, the highest number of killings, rapes, tortures, mental tortures, and abuses of all kinds, carried out by ...their own parents? Oh but no, that interests no one, not medieval enough. And whilst we keep these figures and truths silent, we pat these exploitive filmmakers on the back with gold-leafed awards, and talk how great and useful these films are that 'break the silence'. Go on, take the ride. You know you want to.