I liked 10 Kilos as a prison flick, even though it is excruciatingly harrowing. I loved 10 Kilos as a gangster flick, as it is exactly the genre switch the audience needs to turn around and kick them jailhouse blues flat on its a*s. It is the perfect antidote to frack and release all the frustration, as this film hands out inappropriate endorphin rushes by the fistful. But then we have the third movie, a cold-blooded addiction horror story. Sharon’s prison family foundation is painstakingly finely turned, raising the stakes due to Bolivia’s insane tradition of keeping the women’s children in prison with them. Then it all gets left in the dust once the cocaine and heroin train is gotten on. The wounds inflicted on addicts’ loved ones are super realistic. Also, there is a heroin kicking sequence that will break your bones; some of the best withdrawal pain since the Christiane F. vomit-spraying cold-turkey tableau.
“And you will see 10 Kilos, because director Eran has made a f*****g magnificent movie.”
All of this means that 10 Kilos is a triple-decker cinematic roller coaster that knocks the stars out of the sky. Director Eran shows how the feature-length film format, overshadowed now for decades by long-form prestige TV, has the ability to produce an epic parade of sensations in a two-hour running time just as effectively. This has the feeling of a big movie, bigger than we’ve seen around lately. This is award-worthy inside and out, as it has that true story strength behind its ferocious punch. If it isn’t up for some kind of best picture recognition, then you will have people arguing for years as to how it should have. It has global appeal, as 10 Kilos once again reminds us the most insidious side effect of drugs is how their prohibition corrupts law enforcement on all levels, all across the planet.
Some of the heaviest firepower in 10 Kilos is from the dynamite acting performances. Eshet’s turn as Diane joins the gallery of greatest junkies in movie history, as her acting is as addictive as Diane’s dope bag. Eshet is a screen magnet the moment she appears, already getting your attention before you find out she rides the needle. She gives us the genuine look of the heroin lifestyle, which rockets between sick as hell and completely f****d out. Levy does an amazing job of the heavy lifting needed as the only representation of normalcy in the narrative. But of course it is Kertesz that gives us the performance of a lifetime as Sharon. Kertesz makes us feel every molecule of imprisonment, making it hurt. Then she takes us to the other side, making us comprehend how complicated choices can be made in impossible situations. 10 Kilos deserves the recognition for what it is: one of the best movies you can see this year. 10 Kilos gets 10 out of 10, easily.
"…a triple decker cinematic roller coaster that knocks the stars out of the sky."
