Mute

Alexander Skarsgard plays a mute, Amish bartender in a future Berlin (think flying cars and cyborg-replacement body parts) where it is strange to have a physical malady that is not repaired or augmented. When his girlfriend disappears, he dives into her underworld life to track her down. What he finds is all kinds of unsavory, and Paul Rudd's Cactus Bill character is always in the mix as an AWOL US soldier/surgeon doing work in the basement to earn money for a new identity. In many ways this is a traditional revenge-justice thriller, but the central conceit of Skarsgard as mute changes everything in subtle but essential ways. The entire film felt slower, more melancholy, and deliberate. Really a fascinating piece of filmmaking.
4 stars (out of 5)