Benny’s Video

Teenage Benny is obsessed with filming and collecting footage. His emotionally absent parents, Georg and Anna, supply him with televisions, cassette players, and recording devices, seemingly unaware of his fascination with filmed violence. He repeatedly revisits a home video he shot that shows a pig being slaughtered on a European farm.

Benny repeatedly views a home video he shot on a European farm, which captures the slaughter of a pig with a captive bolt pistol. The footage unsettles him, yet it intensifies his fixation with violence captured on film. The video becomes a recurring touchstone in his life.

A party centered on a game called Pilot and Passengers is broken up by Georg and Anna when they return home. Eva, their daughter who lives separately, hosts the impromptu gathering in their house and is revealed to have used their planned absence to throw it. The disruption foreshadows Benny's ability to slip into their world while they are away.

When Georg and Anna depart for the weekend, Benny invites a girl he has seen outside the local video store to his home. After they watch the pig slaughter video, he reveals the slaughtering gun and kills the girl, an act captured on a video monitor. The crime marks a turning point in his behavior as he records it all.

After choir practice, Benny returns home and arranges an evening out with friends before moving the dead body and cleaning up the blood. He continues to capture the entire aftermath on video, turning the crime into yet another recorded sequence. The routine of violence begins to feel normal to him.

Benny goes to a dance club and stays overnight at a friend's house. On the way home, his head is shaved, a change that prompts his father to scold him. The event marks a shift in his appearance and signals growing estrangement from his family.

Back at home, Georg harangues Benny about his haircut, highlighting the tension between the boy and his father. The family atmosphere grows tenser as Benny's behavior remains inscrutable. The episode deepens the emotional distance at home.

While the family watches the news in Benny's room, Benny switches the video to the footage of his murder. He reveals the body in his closet, and Georg removes the videotape, effectively concealing the crime on the household's cameras. The moment crystallizes the complicity and fear within the family.

In the living room, Georg and Anna discuss their options and ultimately decide to dismember the body. Their calm, calculated plan contrasts with Benny's detached reaction to the family's actions. The decision amplifies the family's secret life.

Anna takes Benny away on vacation to Egypt, and he seems barely affected by the murder. They return after six days, and Georg has cleaned the apartment of any trace of the crime. The trip serves to remove Benny from immediate surroundings while the consequences linger.

On video, a Pilot and Passengers appear in a party hosted by Eva, this time with Georg and Anna's permission. In reality, Anna and Georg watch the video with Benny and discuss how well their daughter does playing the game. The scene underlines the uneasy complicity of the parents and Benny in their own entertainment.

Georg and Anna attend the choir Benny is in, a moment of normalcy that sits beside their dark secrets. They watch with a mix of pride and tension as Benny participates. The contrast between public life and private crime grows starker.

Benny's murder video is shown to police during an interview. A voice-over asks, 'Why did you come to us now?' Benny responds simply, 'Because.' The chilling reply underscores his detachment and the puzzling motive behind the crime.

Benny meets Georg and Anna in the hall and, after a long moment, says 'Entschuldigung' (Sorry). On video, his parents are escorted by police officers as the crime becomes public knowledge. The film closes on Benny's subdued breath and a sense of unresolved tension.