The Hater Film Analysis
by: Emil La Marca
Plot summary
The film revolves around a high school kid inspired by the truth and dare game to kiss another student. The plot focuses on the student who is expelled from the campus for trying to steer the social media platforms, thus causing huge violence and hatred. Following his expulsion from the institution, Tomasz, a disgraced law student, finds a job in a public relations company. The company is a trolling company that spreads fake news, which provides Tomasz with an excellent platform to spread fake news that targets famous individuals, politicians, and internet celebrities. Tomasz applies the acquired skills from the firm to stalk, control and harass the Krasuckas who had sponsored his education before being expelled. The Krasuckas had turned their back on him following the expulsion and forced Gabi, their daughter, to ignore him. The intention is to gain a better social status to win Gabi back.
While in the public relations company, Tosmaz manages to get close to the Krasuckas by joining Rudnicki’s Company and plots how to jeopardize his campaign as he seeks revenge on the Krasuckis. He joins hands with Guzek, a strong critic of Rudnicki, in planning his revenge. Tomasz finds his way into the campaign committee, and at the end, a support committee meeting is planned in which Guzek is required to kill everyone in attendance. However, Gabi appears in the support committee with her sister and parents and apologizes to Tomasz for abandoning him. He thinks about his motives, but Guzek enters the event, killing everyone. Tomasz manages to take down Gunez and becomes a hero, earning respect from Krasuckis, who becomes friends again. As the plot comes to an end, Baeta, the public relations owner, threatens to expose Tomasz about the planned massacre at the support committee meeting. However, Tomasz manages to blackmail her with exposure to her fake news and propaganda. He eventually becomes the owner of the PR company.
Review
The plot clearly indicates how mindless and cynical online journalists use online platforms and the internet to gain credibility and fortune as they spread their propaganda. The film exposes the threats of the dark web, propaganda, and social media, which are forms part of daily life. The director does a good job balancing a crime thriller genre and character study, although this seems to have created an unpredictable and intense finale. However, as the plot unfolds, I am inclined and feel compelled to sympathize with Tomasz as he endures the various challenges. This is particularly seen where he looks pathetic at home and in public; he looks like a blank-faced sociopath. He also seems suicidal as he stalks Gabi, his childhood crush, on Facebook and listens to secret recordings of Gabi. The plot also places Tomasz as a devious mastermind, although his plans are not credible. Most of his plans are geared towards impressing Gabi, who comes from a well-off family. In contrast, Tomasz is a low-class kid where the audience is required to see his transformation and be marveled at it considering the all-black wardrobe and skeletal eye makeup. The plot also indicates the transformation of the young man as he rubs his shoulders against prominent politicians. This is clearly seen where Tomasz joins Rudnicki’s campaign team.
The Hater’s Storyline revolves around an abstract emotion that highlights the happenings in the rapidly polarized and politicized climate. This means that free speech is a theory, dissent voices are stifled, and the innocents are crucified on assumptions. A good example is seen in the initial stages of the film, where Tomasz, the central character, lifts propaganda from the professor’s book and is expelled. He fails to display remorse following his actions and considers the action a matter of perception. Such perception contributes to and perhaps foreshadows his unlawful activities following his expulsion from the law school.
The storyline also highlights the theme of hatred as it unfolds throughout the film. The audience does witness the hatred developed towards the Krasuckas and the increasing hatred that surrounds his entire life. The Krasuckas consider him a nobody whose life is surrounded by luck that gets him to law school. Hatred is also evident from the constant ridicule the young man receives from students based on his economic background. He is considered a parasite by his aunt as she refers to his cologne and how he smells. They consider him to have gone to the law school to earn respect and marry the Krasuckas daughter. These actions and utterances indicate the hatred surrounding him and extend the theme of hate in the film.
The director approaches the film in an austere and calm manner advancing the character displayed by Tomasz. The film indicates the terrible things conducted by the young man quietly. This is particularly done by using a computer, highlighting how the current world has evolved and the dangers of using computers to advance ill intents. Despite the approach taken, the audience already knows the character portrayed by Tomasz through his secret schemes. He engineers a lot of minor scandals through fake news and propaganda aimed at destroying other people, and the audience already knows his character based on these actions. The hater is displayed as an effective vision of unnerving social media manipulation and the power of fake news unfolding in the storyline and the plot.
Visual Effects
The film’s shooting is an indication of the professionalism presented by the director, where he uses quite a menace and shoots some scenes in a silent club dance where the characters listen to music using earphones. Despite the cinematographic perfection, at some point, the story becomes somehow difficult to follow, especially when the central character becomes uninteresting to follow. The audience may see Tomasz uninteresting as he becomes less threatening and fascinating and is seen as if he is tired. The visual effects of the film are also somehow interesting compared to the normal visual effects used by other filmmakers. The characters can be spotted staring at their phones and computers for many hours in most of them. Also, the setting of the scenes involves the manipulation of lighting that creates an interesting mood while highlighting the psychological representation of the characters. The visual altering of the film plays a significant role in the portrayal of the different emotions and feelings of the characters. Thus the lighting has helped in supporting the film genre and helps advance the different actions done by the characters. For instance, the visual helps in advancing the characteristics of Tomasz and how he feels towards the Krasuckas. The visual elements such as lighting play an important role in controlling the feeling of the audience towards the characters.
The director of the film seemed to have done a good job in developing the storyline of the film, where the college flunky manages to move his way up and reclaim his normal life through manipulating others. His plans unfold conveniently and do not meet any resistance from his seniors who have been in the manipulative industry for long or the politicians. Although this may seem a negative motive of the film, the negativity may be overlooked by the cinematographic treat of the film. An example is the settling of the film with a dark, veering, and haunting animation that changes from time to time. The scenes are also well organized to blend in a chaotic way, hence attracting the audience’s attention. The theme and cinematographic features of the film are well blended, developing into an interesting storyline of hate. The use of these visual effects is meant to capture the attention of the audience, ensuring that they follow keenly as the plot unfolds. The use of different visual effects in the movie, such as the dark theme and music in the film, helps advance the movie’s plot and theme, which supports the actions happening. For instance, the film makes use of red lighting in the club, which blends effectively with the dancers as they sing quietly, listening to music via headphones.
The director also makes good use of music in the film, featuring classical music as part of the film. The selected pieces are important and play along well with the film scenes. The selection of classical music also advances the theme played by the protagonist both at home and while in the office. The classical music used in the film helps in shaping the emotional response among the characters and helps the audience connect with the feeling portrayed by the characters. It was crucial in promoting the experience of the film and helped in foreshadowing. Generally, the visual elements used in the film helped advance the film in a unique way that blends effectively with the audience as they connect with the protagonist.
In conclusion, the film is a representation of the effects of social media, the internet, and the dark web in advancing ill intentions. Tomasz uses the platform to defame politicians and other celebrities. Also, the PR company has been successful in promoting propaganda and fake news. The internet forms part of our daily life, and therefore we should understand the pros and cons associated with it and how it can be used to promote negative intentions. Despite these, the theme of hatred is well presented in the film, which surrounds Tomasz as he seeks revenge over the Krasuckas. The director does an excellent job of promoting the visual elements and the plot of the film.
References
Movie source: https://soap2day.rs/watch-movie/watch-the-hater-full-65214.3937103
