Ben X (2007)

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

A Brilliant Conflict

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

The "lesson" of the movie is good, but there are some production/direction flaws. Warning: spoilers incoming!Ben-X: he is a teenager who is constantly bullied at school. He suffers from some psychological disorder. The movie suggests it's autism, but doesn't actually give a final answer to what it is. Here starts the first problem - Ben is in a constant hypervigilance state, while seeming to have great mental abilities (like shown in a doctor's appointment where he can record in his memory dozens of characters by just looking at them), yet has hallucinations too (as seen in the end of the movie). So, the symptoms vary from some schizophrenia to autism, which is really weird. The production tried to give Ben a "mad man" look, which ended up with an overreacted character.The second biggest mistake I find, is the fact that Ben's parents actually encouraged him on feeding his hallucinations and living that lie (as you'll notice in the end of movie). I'm sorry my friend but if you have hallucinations on a regular base, there's something wrong with you. Since I've dealt with schizophrenic people, when the person gets to that point the behavior is seriously modified and the delusion and paranoia just mess up someone's life. Even without all the technical psychological stuff, encouraging someone to live a lie is not the end of a movie I was expecting.Third: I think they could have come up with a better "masterplan" than the one the movie presented (a awfully made false suicide). Suddenly he was getting better at that state of the movie and out of nothing, with a lot of minutes for the film to end, he decides to commit suicide (dead bodies or wounds are not displayed). I think no one actually believed he had died in that scene - that's the kind of non-occurring death I'm tired to see in American cinema and I was expecting something different to be honest. As the movie suggested, Ben-X would have good mental capacities so bringing some more elaborated suicide, or some other plan, would have been so much better.For last, the movie is about some serious issues like autism, discrimination, school bullying, etc. This movie could have had a much more serious environment, and specially a Ben who'd express more feelings other than non-stopping distrust, like anger, depression, etc.;)

I thought that Ben X was an excellent film to watch. Ben is very different. He has Aspergers Syndrome, a form of autism, which makes him very different from other people. He plays his favourite online computer game Archlord all of the time, trying hard to train himself for the real world that he lives in. The hard world of a school is for him a daily kind of hell. As the horror of being a daily subject to bullying starts to get worse, Ben works out a plan. Then a girl called Scarlite comes into his life, the girl that he has met in his on-line game. I found this film to be an excellent movie, that includes a lot a senses of bullying, and violence towards Ben from the other children in his class. Recommended..

I have to admit I had my doubts about the content of this movie when I started watching. Especially since the DVD cover gave me the impression that a lot of the movie would be about online gaming. Thank God this wasn't true.It has been a long time since I've seen a movie that's this goodThe movie brings forth a quite realistic view of school youth and their cruelty. Secondly, it also represents the world of a bully victim quite vividly. I can say this first hand. To complete this masterpiece it adds a very interesting twist in the end.Well worth watching. Captivating from the beginning to the end. In my personal opinion every school should show this to their classroom at some point.

For me, it was probably the best movie I've seen about bullying and adapting to modern society when you don't fit the mold, when you're not particularly socially adept. It's not just about autism, everybody should see this, particularly those who have been ostracized in school for whatever reason, especially gaming geeks. Mostly because of the incredible performance by the lead actor (but also because of how well it was filmed), I totally felt and rooted for him. I quite enjoyed the gaming background of Ben although it didn't feel completely believable. No one with a gaming character would just stand there without fighting back. In my book, it's a must-see if you can find it.9 out of 10.