Tom Six, the Dutch filmmaker who shocked the world with the Human Centipede trilogy, has turned the camera on himself in a raw, unfiltered documentary. The End of Tom Six shot entirely in his Amsterdam apartment, offers a glimpse into the life of a director who pushed boundaries and faced the consequences. This isn’t just a film about Six’s career; it’s a confession, a rant, and a testament to the struggles of indie filmmakers.
The documentary, available online on a pay-what-you-want basis, is a chaotic mix of humor, self-indulgence, and stark reality. Six, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis years ago, now spends most of his time confined to his apartment, venturing out only for decaffeinated coffee. The film is a lo-fi rant, a self-styled confessional memoir that fuses his life, career, and illness into a parable about the cost of transgression in cinema.
The Human Centipede Phenomenon
The Human Centipede trilogy, released between 2009 and 2015, carved out a niche in global movie culture. The films, known for their grotesque and shocking content, became a punchline on numerous TV shows and a meme referenced in popular culture. Six’s work was a grenade thrown at the faces of both prim conformists and seasoned horror fans, challenging the boundaries of what was acceptable in cinema.
Six’s background as a director on the original Dutch TV show Big Brother added an layer of satire to his films, critiquing consumerist voyeurism and cruelty. However, the success of the Human Centipede trilogy didn’t translate into wealth for Six. The mystery of where the profits went remains, much like the enigma surrounding the profits of the 70s adult movie Deep Throat.
A Career Derailed
After the Human Centipede trilogy, Six worked on another controversial feature, The Onania Club about a group of women addicted to other people’s pain. Despite rave reviews from luminaries like John Waters, the film faced rejection from timid distributors, exacerbated by the impact of Covid on the industry. Six’s health further complicated matters, with multiple sclerosis confining him to his apartment almost continuously.
The documentary captures Six’s life as a recluse, surrounded by a ragtag circus of unlikely people, including his partner Marci and a small child doing the editing. The film is a slapdash aria of complaint, a story about the terrible end awaiting risk-taking indie filmmakers who face failure. It’s a tale that resonates with the defiance of German exploitation maestro Uwe Boll and deserves its chapter in indie-cinema history.
The End of Tom Six: A Parable of Transgression
The film opens with noirish images of an Amsterdam canal, setting the tone for Six’s confessional memoir. Shot in black-and-white, it’s a blend of humor and stark reality, with Six surrounded by a kitsch gallery of jokers. The film keeps the tone light, purging it of self-pity and breaking up what is essentially a Tom Six monologue of self-justification.
Six’s battle with MS is described with tough understatement, but the film is not a work of true-life body horror. It’s a story about the cost of transgression, the struggle of indie filmmakers, and the end of an era in cinema. The End of Tom Six is a film for fans, but it’s also a parable that asks: Is there room anymore for movies like his, that stray over the line? And if not, what does that mean?
