Jason goes to Jewfest South for 24 DAYS

Umm...that's not how long I was there, that's the name of the movie

Anyway, I knew I was in for something unusual and harrowing when I spied the name Alexandre Aja (HIGH TENSION, THE HILLS HAVE EYES remake, PIRANHA 3D) as assistant director in the credits. I'll take a wild guess that he filmed the more brutal, bloody, and shocking scenes.

Anyway, the movie is based on a true story of a young Jewish man who was kidnapped seemingly at random and held for ransom. And the title refers to  how long he was held, and tortured, until he was let go in the woods and eventually died of his injuries. But it's also the story of his family, especially his mother, trying to cooperate with the police and their fruitless efforts at investigating and negotiating with the kidnappers. And, oh yeah, the kidnappers were a Muslim gang and there's the difficult issue of whether or not the kidnapping was motivated by religious hatred. In fact, that's kind of a major plot point. In any case, it's a tense, brutal, and brilliantly made movie. One I appreciate but sort of wish didn't have to be made (or at least didn't include the "based on a true story" label.)

Running Time: 108 minutes
My Total Minutes: 406,568