The Essay That Jack Built - An Analysis of The Picnic Sequence
The House That Jack Built is a 2018 horror art film written and directed by Lars Von Trier, which stars Matt Dillon as the protagonist, Jack. The House That Jack Built follows Jack, a failed architect who recalls multiple times he committed murder as he speaks to a character named Verge on his walk to hell (The House That Jack Built [Film], 2018). This film was originally a production for television, officially debuting in the Cannes Film Festival (Romney, 2018) and receiving polarising reviews from critics which praised Matt Dillon’s performance and the artistic direction but criticised the graphic violence. The House That Jack Built was a box office failure, with a budget of $9.8 million (Nordine, 2016) it only made back $3 million worldwide (IMDb Pro, no date).
What sets The House That Jack Built apart from other horrors is how it is narratively structured and directed. The film begins in pitch black, which is followed by two voices, Jack and Verge. Jack retells his stories in non-chronological order, claiming they are randomly selected which insinuates he has killed more times than he tells Verge and the audience (The House That Jack Built [Film], 2018). However, what is the most striking about the narrative is that it does not go out of its way to humanise Jack but instead emphasises his depravity, this is similar to No Country For Old Men [Film] (2007) as the lead antagonist, Anton Chigurh, is also a psychopathic character and commits murders as a hired hitman. Chigurh is shown to be a force of fate, harbouring death wherever he goes and also is not humanised by the plot which is done by not showing any of his backstory. This is similar to Jack as the only backstory the audience is given is that he grew up in the countryside on a farm and that he had dreams of being an architect but instead became an engineer (The House That Jack Built [Film], 2018). However, unlike Jack, Chigurh does not derive pleasure from the murders he is paid to commit, instead he derives pleasure from the idea of fate, often asking other characters to “call it” and then flipping a coin to decide their fate. (No Country For Old Men [Film], 2007)
What emphasises Jack’s depravity the most is how he insists what he does is art, claiming he is not only a murderer but an artist (Sampson, 2021). Jack is repeatedly criticised by Verge for his violence and cruelty, however Jack deflects this criticism and circles back to arguing about the virtue of his art (Sampson, 2021), as he would repeatedly photograph the bodies and send them to the news under the handle of “Mr Sophistication” as an act of provocation. Although arguably this reflects the film’s director, Lars Von Trier, who has been dubbed a provocateur by audiences, even prompting articles about times he went too far (Coll, 2024).
This film did not shy away from on screen deaths as the most infamous sequence in this film includes children. The third incident followed as Jack took a woman he had been dating and her two young sons to hunting grounds with wooden animal targets for a day trip. Ironically when one of the boys shows an interest in hunting, Jack responds “hunting is such an unpleasant thing,” to which he claims, “I used to hunt quite a bit, but I’ve stopped,” because he finds hunting “distasteful.” He then proceeds to explain what culling is by using crows as an example, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, this is the selective slaughter of animals to reduce or limit their numbers. This sequence initially subverts audience expectations as Jack is presented as a good male role-model to the two young boys, explaining hunting tactics to them however this is quickly foreshadowed as not being the truth for much longer when Jack explains the trophy parade, calling it a “final insult,” despite the true purpose of the ceremony traditionally being viewed as sacred and respectful to the animals (Time Well Spent, 2025). Although, Jack’s hunt truly begins when Verge asks hopefully, “So, you had found yourself a family?” Even though, Jack agrees with Verge claiming he also saw it that way, he immediately says animals are “simpler”, and on screen during this dialogue, the audience is shown illustrations of 3 deer (The House That Jack Built [Film], 2018). At Verge’s confusion, Jack elaborates, “The order is important. The hind will typically run in the front with the largest fawn following the smallest last. You’d typically shoot at the deer starting with the rear one based on the fact that the two older animals can survive without the young one whereas, if you shot the mother first and didn’t get the others both fawns would probably not survive. So in this manner, you then shoot the bigger fawn and then the mother last.” (The House That Jack Built [Film], 2018). These illustrations then cut and the audience is shown the mother and her two boys cowering behind obstacles like natural roots and the targets, Jack shoots a warning shot, and the oldest boy runs forwards to another obstacle, making it clear that Jack had been biding his time. The initial set up of Jack being a good father figure to then hunting his family communicates to the audience that he enjoys invoking fear into his victims before committing his murders, creating a cat and mouse game (The House That Jack Built [Film], 2018). When Jack doesn’t immediately shoot, he explains they were running in the wrong order, ironically claiming he takes “ethical hunting rules” very seriously. Finally, when the youngest boy runs forwards, he shoots him fatally and follows his murder with a headshot to his older brother. (The House That Jack Built [Film], 2018)
What follows is a sequence at the picnic the mother had previously shown to set up, there is a deliberate use of no music, only diegetic ambience of the surrounding woodland and birds chirping, which not only represents the mother’s emptiness after watching her two boys die but also Jack’s lack of remorse or empathy, it’s still just another sunny day to him (The House That Jack Built [Film], 2018). As the mother sits at the picnic with the corpses of her two children, Jack tells her, “you know, when I was a boy, I never got enough pie. Why don’t you do as I say and give the youngster a little piece of pie?” which forces the grief-stricken mother into feeding her son’s corpses a bite of pie (The House That Jack Built [Film], 2018). Afterwards he asks her what her favourite number is and at her reply he counts down as he walks over to the lookout and climbs up. Once he finishes counting he shoots her and then tracks where she tried to hide, shooting her once more fatally. Finally, this sequence ends and begins a new one, where the audience watches as Jack places down a crow and then takes his red cap off. Orchestral music swells as the camera floats up to reveal Jack’strophy parade, which not only includes a murder of crows laid out but the family laid out in the order of the smallest fawn to the biggest displaying that Jack does not view human life above animal life. (The House That Jack Built [Film], 2018) However, Matt Dillon’s performance is to note here as Jack doesn’t remove his cap in a respectful manner, he removes it as if he had just finished a day of work, which ties back to Jack calling the trophy ceremony a “final insult.” (The House That Jack Built [Film], 2018)
Jack’s final act of the trophy parade clearly shows his predatory intention of hunting an innocent family who had no idea what his true nature was. Despite being a box office failure (IMDb Pro, no date), The House That Jack Built [Film] (2018) sets itself apart from other horror movies by taking an artistic angle into the mind of a serial killer, giving the audience a sort of firsthand account of how Jack views himself and the world, blatantly displaying how little he views life as he displays corpses together no matter the species. Irony is also used to express his depravity as he acknowledges the cruelty of hunting yet murders a single mother and her children, only after torturing and terrifying them with the prospect of death at his hand (The House That Jack Built [Film], 2018). Not only does this use of irony express the lack of empathy he has to the audience, it also expresses Jack is fully aware of what he is doing and chooses to do it for his own pleasure and fulfilment, presenting him as a depraved and remorseless individual through Matt Dillon’s performance and through the sound design as the lack of sound during the picnic scene is a clear double entendre for the mother’s emptiness after her sons deaths and also Jack’s lack of empathy and emotion. (The House That Jack Built [Film], 2018)