Review: 'Nothing Bad Can Happen'
From the first droning beats of the relentless soundtrack, Nothing Bad Can Happen, a new film by Katrin Gebbe, makes itself clear that something menacing is approaching. Tense, kinetic, and unrelentingly bare-fisted the movie is unapologetically fierce in approach. One thing is absolutely clear; this is not that German musical comedy I have been waiting for.
The film haunts and follows a young curly blonde stick of a boy who is slightly reminiscent of a very serious Napoleon Dynamite as he stumbles through life, alone and full of adoring love for Jesus Christ. A devout member of the “Jesus Freaks” (a cult-like punk slash evangelical young person’s German religious organization) Tore (played stunningly by Julius Feldmeier) suffers from violent seizures that not only punctuate his alienation from society but clue into a deeper problem. Tore is convinced that these episodes bring him closer to Jesus. That Jesus is “visiting him.”
As one could possibly guess in such fun German summer romps such as these, things go poorly for Tore.
He is easy prey for the demonically fueled Benno (played uber-effectively by Sascha Alexander Gersak) who takes him into a wickedly dilapidated summer home where he shares his dinner table with Tore and his equally as tormented and twisted family. As one could possibly guess in such fun German summer romps such as these, things go poorly for Tore. He is banished to a tent outside the house, punched, tormented, mocked by this family of horrors. He is forced to face his faith -- his undying loyalty to Jesus and deal with what becomes evident, a destructive messiah complex.
A particular gag-inducing highlight in the film is when in which Benno, when upon discovery that Tore is trying to feed himself off family scraps without permission, forces him (with his wife in tow) to eat a half of a rotten chicken. They sit, watch and actively force him to swallow the foul fowl in what can only be described as one of the most memorable food scenes outside of Big Night. That scene alone is worth the price of admission, and more so if one is trying on vegan-ism.
Nothing Bad Can Happen is a killer, non-stop, cringe-worthy slice of brilliance. If human debasement is your summer thrill, this flick is for you. One thing's for sure. This is one that will stick with you. Oh, and don’t worry... I can still eat chicken, but I’m kind of a pig.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujc7fC93uRY
