Endorsed by Quentin Tarantino as the best film of 2013, Big Bad Wolves from Israeli directors Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado has big shoes to fill – and is now available on Blu-Ray and DVD. Dropping a name like Tarantino’s is bound to draw a lot of attention to your film, but the question remains whether Big Bad Wolves succeeds in delivering.

Big Bad Wolves revolves around Dror, a timid religion teacher who the police suspects of being a sadistic paedophile. The police screws up and Dror is back on the streets. This mistake costs detective Micki his job and consumed by anger, he wants to beat a confession out of Dror. But Micki didn’t count on Gidi, the father of a murdered girl who also thinks Dror is responsible for the death of his daughter. A good torturing session should give him the information he needs. That’s why he kidnaps Dror and locks him in a soundproof cellar. Ordinary gardening tools find a new use in there.

Big Bad Wolves is an unbalanced film because the scales constantly tip over from humour and drama to suspense and horror. Humour as black as coal contrasts the severe subject of the film and often makes watching a cringeworthy experience. In one of the scenes, Micki and Gidi tell the gruesome events that transpired to the girls before they were murdered and left behind – fortunately the film refuses to show these, but the cold list of events is enough to send a shiver through your spines. Such as scene is then for instance followed by Gidi who bakes a cake, set to the up-beat ‘Everyday‘ by Buddy Holly, or a slapstick scene in which Gidi is constantly disturbed by the door bell while he attempts to torture Dror.

There’s also not a lot of character development: we see three men making each other’s lives as difficult as possible both physically and mentally. The thriller element – whether Dror is innocent or guilty – makes for a fascinating film, despite the feeling that this character is not sympathetic. Big Bad Wolves is filled with stock characters: the stoic teacher with a dark secret, the raw but righteous police officer, and the father that went berserk. The beautiful use of colours and the dark, melancholy atmosphere are redeeming features, together with the acting and a surprising ending.