Michael is a 2011 Austrian drama film written and directed by Markus Schleinzer, in his directorial debut. Loosely based on the Natascha Kampusch case, it follows the offender's viewpoint. Starring , as the film's title character, and David Rauchenberger as the abducted child.
The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. It was theatrically released in Austria on 2 September 2011 by Stadtkino Filmverleih.
Michael is an insurance broker who lives a quiet, unassuming existence — and who secretly keeps a 10-year-old boy called Wolfgang in his soundproof basement. He sexually abuses the boy, but they otherwise have something of a fatherâÂÂson relationship. In the evenings, after Michael locks the door and closes the blinds, Wolfgang is allowed into the living room for dinner and to watch TV. When in hospital after an accident, Michael is in a hurry to be released and return to Wolfgang. When Wolfgang gets sick Michael digs a grave in the woods, in case Wolfgang dies. However, he recovers. The boy writes a letter to his parents, to be mailed by Michael, but Michael does not send it and lies to Wolfgang, saying his parents do not want him back.
Sometimes, he takes the boy on a pleasure trip outside the town, where people do not know Michael. On one occasion, he goes on a skiing trip with friends for multiple days, leaving extra food for Wolfgang, who has water, a toilet, simple cooking facilities and a TV in his room.
Seeing that Wolfgang is lonely, Michael promises to bring another child for company. Together they assemble a bunk bed in advance. Michael attempts to abduct another boy by luring him away, but the boy is called back by his father, who scolds him for walking off with a stranger. Michael tells Wolfgang that he did not succeed in providing him a friend. One day, Wolfgang throws boiling water into Michael's face, nearly blinding him, but does not succeed in escaping. Due to the burns inflicted upon him in the attack, Michael takes his car and attempts to seek medical attention but dies in an accident. After the funeral, Michael's mother is about to discover the boy when the film ends.
The film contains a scene in which Michael exposes his penis to Wolfgang. Schleinzer used an invisible split screen to ensure Rauchenberger did not have to participate in the scene.
The film was met with mixed critic ratings at the Cannes Film Festival. While Indiewire's Eric Kohn called the film "a triumph of uneasy cinema: Not since Todd Solondz's Happiness has a movie portrayed pedophilia in such uncomfortable detail", Esquires Mike D'Angelo tweeted "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH EVERYONE IN AUSTRIA. SERIOUSLY. Once again, very well made in the approved festival style, but I understand now exactly how detractors of Funny Games felt". In Télérama, Aurélien Ferenczi wrote: "a (apparent) objectivity, the refusal of emotion, a willingness to show horror as something ordinary. We can admire the mastery, praise the coherence of the subject, or find that this mannerism is almost dated".