‘Gomorrah’ invokes the Biblical city of sin in its title which serves as a fitting metaphor for the reality unfolding before us. We are presented with a space of debauchery and excesses of all kinds where everyone, but more so the protagonist, is eternally damned and tied to this dismal fate.
The first-person narrative paints for the viewer a world of substance abuse where all that matters is the next hit, and its potency to drown everything else that once was right until that moment. As the Virgil-esque protagonist, Francis Dykes, leads the viewer into this particular Hell, he is also allowed a moment of intimacy and affection, fleeting as it might be, amidst the despair.
Gorgeous cinematography, lovely background score, and top-drawer performances put together the film for the viewer. The writing invokes a very brutal, visceral realm located inside a metaphorical heap of rubbish, to borrow an analogy from Francis’ monologue. It does an adept job of portraying the desire to disappear, the self-hate, dread of existence, alongside an unabashed, fierce look into the world of addiction.
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