Ivo Van Aart’s uneven black comedy/thriller about a vengeful writer is ultimately more style than substance.
This review is part of our coverage of the 2020 Fantasia International Film Festival
Don’t read the comments. Never read the comments. If you plan to spend more than a day on the internet, particularly social media, avoid at all costs anything that would allow you to see the awful things other people think and say. Some of it is trolling, just jokes, it’s hard to tell either way, but it’s what we tell ourselves so it doesn’t get to us. Ivo Van Aart’s The Columnist depicts what happens when someone lets it get to her a little too much.
Femke Boot (Katja Herbers) is a writer for a Guardian-like website, mostly publishing softball columns on the perfect hardboiled eggs or why she doesn’t like soup. Nevertheless, Femke is the target of vulgar online harassment and threats, largely for the crime of being a woman who has an opinion. While everyone in her real life suggests that she just ignore it, Femke seems to have an almost masochistic compulsion to read the vulgar things anonymous commenters say about her, often at the cost of shutting out the world around her.
After discovering that a neighbor is one of her trolls, Femke sets about anonymously harassing him in return, quickly escalating it to violence when she pushes him off a roof. Rather than be remorseful, or even the slightest bit disturbed by what she’s done, committing murder is just the thing Femke needs to put the spark back in her life. She breaks through a particularly pesky case of writer’s block, and falls into a relationship with Steven (Bram van der Kelen), a fellow writer. Nevertheless, she still can’t stop herself from reading the comments, or from seeking out the faces behind the usernames and exacting revenge on them.
No one can argue that The Columnist, written by Daan Windhorst, isn’t timely. Social media is a veritable Dodge City, particularly for women. Safely hidden behind a computer screen, men merrily make rape and death threats, with almost no consequences. If you write for a living, the Catch-22 is that you have no choice but to put up with trolls, because it’s no longer possible to maintain a successful career without some kind of social media presence. The question that continues to go unanswered is how can a person reasonably be expected to put up with before snapping and expecting their trolls to answer for their own words?
No one can argue that The Columnist, written by Daan Windhorst, isn’t timely.
Alas, The Columnist is only interested in a very surface approach to the subject. Though Herbers is fine in the role, Femke isn’t entirely believable as a character. She goes from 0 to murder in barely twenty minutes, and it feels forced and clumsy, as if she was merely looking for an excuse to start killing people rather than driven to it. There’s no indication that Femke feels guilt or sorrow for what she does, or that she’s even particularly worried about getting caught, as illustrated by the fact that she keeps bloody weapons and body parts in her house where they could be easily found. The Columnist presumably is a cautionary tale in the vein of “he who fights monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster,” but for all the time the film spends on developing Femke as a character, she might as well be a monster from the very beginning.
That being said, it is extremely satisfying to see Femke stab, beat, strangle, shoot and electrocute her way through one troll after another. One could say that her behavior is rather extreme, but so is posting that someone should be “impaled c*nt-first” because of some light culture article they wrote for a website no one is under any obligation to read. Sure, one wishes that someone would slap the phone out of Femke’s hands, but don’t we all have that desire to look at various car crashes on the internet? Online trolling may be just a part of life, and while The Columnist doesn’t really ask why women must simply tolerate it, it does enough to make you wonder.
The Columnist Trailer:
Read next: The Spool's Best New Releases
Streaming guides
The Best Live TV Streaming Services With Free Trial
The praises of live TV streaming services don’t need to be further sung. By now, we all know that compared to clunky, commitment-heavy cable, live TV is cheaper and much easier to manage. But just in case you’re still on the fence about jumping over to the other side, or if you’re just unhappy with ... The Best Live TV Streaming Services With Free Trial
How to Watch Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 3
Season 3 of the hotly anticipated Power spin-off, Power Book III: Raising Kanan, is arriving on Starz soon, so you know what that means: it’s the ’90s again in The Southside, and we’re back with the Thomas family as they navigate the ins and outs of the criminal underworld they’re helping build. Mekai Curtis is ... How to Watch Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 3
How to Watch Doctor Who: 60th Anniversary Specials
Ladies and gentlemen, we’re so back! To celebrate Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, the BBC is producing a three-episode special starring none other than the Tenth/Fourteenth Doctor himself, David Tennant. And to the supreme delight of fans (that would be me, dear reader), the Doctor will be joined by old-time companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and ... How to Watch Doctor Who: 60th Anniversary Specials
Which Netflix Country Has Each Movie of The Hunger Games?
For whatever reason, The Hunger Games series isn’t available in the same countries around the world. You’ll find the first and second (aka the best) installments in Hong Kong, for instance, but not the third and fourth. It’s a frustrating dilemma, especially if you don’t even have a single entry in your region, which is ... Which Netflix Country Has Each Movie of The Hunger Games?
Which Netflix Country has Interstellar?
Maybe you’ve just seen Oppenheimer and have the strongest urge to marathon—or more fun yet, rank!—all of Christopher Nolan’s films. Or maybe you’re one of the few who haven’t seen Interstellar yet. If you are, then you should change that immediately; the dystopian epic is one of Nolan’s best, and with that incredible twist in ... Which Netflix Country has Interstellar?
How to Watch Paramount Network With a Free Trial
To date, Paramount Network has only two original shows on air right now: Yellowstone and Bar Rescue. The network seems to have its hands full with on-demand streaming service Paramount+, which is constantly stacked with a fresh supply of new shows. But Yellowstone and Bar Rescue are so sturdy and expansive that the network doesn’t ... How to Watch Paramount Network With a Free Trial
How to Watch WE TV With a Free Trial
Previously “Women’s Entertainment,” We TV has since rebranded to accurately reflect its name and be a more inclusive lifestyle channel. It’s home to addictive reality gems like Bold and Bougie, Bridezillas, Marriage Boot Camp, and The Untold Stories of Hip Hop. And when it’s not airing original titles, it has on syndicated shows like 9-1-1, ... How to Watch WE TV With a Free Trial
How to Watch FX With a Free Trial
You’d be hard-pressed to find a bad show airing on FX. The channel has made a name for itself as a bastion of high-brow TV, along with HBO and AMC. It’s produced shows like Atlanta, Fargo, The Americans, Archer, and more recently, Shogun. But because it’s owned by Disney, it still airs several blockbusters in ... How to Watch FX With a Free Trial
How to Watch A&E With A Free Trial
If you’re a fan of true crime and insider docu-shows like The First 48 and Court Cam, then you’re probably already familiar with A&E. The cable channel is home to other reality TV gems like Hoarders, Duck Dynasty, and Storage Wars (they’ve moved on to spin-offs like Road Wars, Customer Wars, and Prison Wars now). ... How to Watch A&E With A Free Trial
How to Watch Unimás With a Free Trial
As the sister channel of the much bigger Univision, Unimás is home to popular Spanish-language telenovelas and talk shows (yes, including El Gordo y La Flaca), as well as a couple of sports events and programs. Most notably, however, Unimás also operates a couple of station affiliates around the country, so it also reports local ... How to Watch Unimás With a Free Trial
How to Watch TNT With A Free Trial
For many sports fans, TNT is a non-negotiable. It broadcasts NBA, MLB, NHL, college basketball, and All Elite Wrestling matches. And, as a bonus, it also has reruns of shows like Supernatural, Charmed, and NCIS, as well as films like The Avengers, Dune, and Justice League. But while TNT used to be a cable staple, ... How to Watch TNT With A Free Trial