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Movie
Poster for The Ax

The Ax

2005 · 118 min

A chillingly calm descent into desperation, blending dark humor with quiet menace as a man's world shrinks to a single, terrible solution.

Directed by
Costa-Gavras
Genres
Comedy, Crime, Drama
Starring
José Garcia, Karin Viard, Ulrich Tukur
Tagline
Some people would die to get (him) this job.
Overview
Bruno loved his job as a middle manager at a paper company, but optimistically views being laid off as an opportunity. After two years of searching for a comparable position, optimism turns to desperation. His wife works two jobs, and their marriage slowly deteriorates as their hold on the middle class slips away. Bruno concocts a grimly audacious plan to identify and kill his fellow job applicants so that he is the only qualified person left.

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In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
Directed by
Costa-Gavras
Genres
Comedy, Crime, Drama
Starring
José Garcia, Karin Viard, Ulrich Tukur
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • darkstrength 3 of 3
  • satiricalstrength 2 of 3
  • cynicalstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • work
  • class
  • obsession
  • morality
  • isolation
Places
  • big city
  • workplace
  • home
Era
contemporary
Audience
adult
Form
  • twist ending
Content intensity
  • Gore mild
  • Language mild
  • Violence strong
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action3
Horror2
Humour6
Realism8
Romance2
Tension7
Darkness8
Complexity6
Emotional weight7

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Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
comedy, crime, drama, thriller
Directed by
Costa-Gavras
Written by
Jean-Claude Grumberg, Costa-Gavras
Starring
José Garcia, Karin Viard, Ulrich Tukur, Olivier Gourmet, Yvon Back, Thierry Hancisse, Olga Grumberg, Geordy Couturiau
Music
Armand Amar
Cinematography
Patrick Blossier
Runtime
118 min
Country
France, Belgium, Spain
Languages
Dutch, French

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