Zero Charisma

Zero Charisma (2013) – I came for the impressive metal cred (Therion!) and found an insufferable and irredeemable jackass of a protagonist who’s never the least bit sympathetic (it’s a good performance, though); there are some true-to-life dramatic elements here, but the film has way too much unpleasantness for its own sake (additionally, the antagonist’s arc feels overly contrived); if the film’s creators were going for “bleak” and “cruel” with this “comedy,” they definitely succeeded, but I don’t know to what purpose; it’s kind of ironic that a prominent theme is that “games are supposed to be fun” and yet the film isn’t any damn fun at all. 4