Review: Newspaper writer goes on killing spree in 'The Columnist'
Dutch satire plays with issues of internet decorum and freedom of speech
Adam Graham
Don't read the comments.
It's a lesson in self-preservation that media types have learned in the internet age when dealing with the angry vitriol that comes from comments sections and social media postings. In the witty Dutch satire "The Columnist," a newspaper writer makes the mistake of reading her feedback, and goes on a murder spree to exact revenge on the readers voicing their ugly and dissenting views about her and her columns.
Katja Herbers is terrific as Femke Boot, a newspaper columnist and struggling author whose publisher is asking for chapters on her new book. She becomes obsessed with her online haters and when she discovers one of them is her neighbor — he smiles to her face and waves from next door — she pushes him off his rooftop and watches him plummet to his death. As a trophy, she takes a finger from him — his middle finger. Hey, no one ever said she didn't have a sense of humor.