Essential Killing

Vincent Gallo goes on the run in the dead of winter in Jerzy Skolimowski’s near-wordless thriller.

Mohammed (Gallo) is transported from his sun-seared homeland to a temporary detention centre in wintry Poland. He escapes and struggles to stay alive in a terrifyingly unfamiliar environment, where his appearance automatically sees him labelled as a potentially dangerous terrorist. With even less dialogue than EO, this multiple award winner is the closest Skolimowski came to purely visual cinema.