Julien Neaves – Editor
Here at RMR we have a very scientific and complex system for deciding who reviews what film/TV series. It is called “calling dibs.” I’m sure you’ve never heard of it. Anywho when I saw the trailer for German superhero film Freaks: You’re One of Us I thought it looked cool and I called dibs on it. As I said, a very complex system.
Now before I get into my non-spoiler review I have to talk about the title. It sounds like an homage to 1932 horror Freaks and the famous “one of us” scene. The titular freaks in this film are simply people with various superpowers. So yeah, not the best title.
Freaks: You’re One of Us is the story of meek fry cook Wendy (Cornelia Gröschel) whose life dramatically changes when she meets a mysterious tramp named Marek (Wotan Wilke Möhring). He informs her that she has superpowers, and when she unlocks those powers her humdrum life turns into an adventure straight out of a comic book.
Gröschel does a fantastic job as Wendy and she is believable, witty and relatable throughout her arc from door mat to super empowered woman. Möhring is solid as Marek and he reminded me a bit of Christopher Eccleston’s character Claude in the first season of Heroes. Remember Heroes? Good times. Tim Oliver Schultz always does very well as directionless comic book lover Elmar.
In a time when some moviegoers may be experiencing superhero film fatigue Freaks will be a refreshing change. Sure the plot is not anything we haven’t seen before, but I appreciated the more grounded approach to the material and the unlikely protagonist. And the special effects are not bad either.
So if you want a palette cleanser from the MCU and the DCEU let me recommend Freaks: You’re One of Us.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
For an even more unorthodox superhero film you can check out Sommer’s review of Unknown Origins here. And to become one of us, one of us (a RMR fan that is) you can like and follow us on Facebook here.
Julien “Jules” Neaves is a TARDIS-flying, Force-using Trekkie whose bedroom stories were by Freddy Krueger, learned to be a superhero from Marvel, but dreams of being Batman. I love promoting Caribbean film, creating board games and I am an aspiring author. I say things like “12 flavours of awesome sauce”.
I can also be found posting on Instagram as redmanwriter and talking about TV and movie stuff on Facebook at Movieville.