The House That Jack Built (2018)

Failed architect, engineer and vicious murderer Jack narrates the details of some of his most elaborately orchestrated crimes, each of them a towering piece of art that defines his life's work as a serial killer for twelve years.

3.5 / 5

INCLUVIE SCORE

2.8 / 5

MOVIE SCORE

Representation

Carter Trey Smith

August 22, 2022

4 / 5

INCLUVIE SCORE

4.5 / 5

MOVIE SCORE

OCD Representation in 'The House that Jack Built' and Associated Media

Upon viewing Lars Von Trier’s skin-crawling epic, The House that Jack Built (2018), one is left with no choice but to consider mental health and its role in the film. The film contains by far one of the rawest and most accurate depictions of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in media to date. This article will detail OCD representation in The House That Jack Built through analysis and interviews. Von Trier’s chaotic film is about Jack, a psychopathic, narcissistic serial killer with OCD. In the aforementioned scene, Jack has killed an innocent woman in her home. Once he leaves, his skin crawls from his imagination. He repeatedly sees images of blood under her carpet and lamp, which dangerously enough, makes him continue returning to the scene of the crime. This cylindrical cycle ironically almost gets him arrested by a nearby police officer. Typically in film, characters suffering from mental illness are used as plot devices, or just for comedy. Jack's OCD is not the cause of his murdering spree, nor his psychopathy; it is an illness he is forced to deal with.

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Movie Information

Rating:R

Genre:Drama, Horror, Crime, Thriller

Directed By:Lars von Trier

Written By:Lars von Trier

In Theaters:12/14/2018

Box Office:$5,566,776

Runtime:151 minutes

Studio:Zentropa Entertainments, Copenhagen Film Fund, Copenhagen Film Fund, Slot Machine, Film i Väst, Zentropa International Sweden, Zentropa International France, Zentropa International Köln