Michael Haneke’s 1997 original version of Funny Games was a self-aware response to glorified violence in the media and society, in which Haneke holds the viewer hostage and inflicts emotional and psychological pain on him – the pain that is typically discarded in Hollywood blockbusters. It’s a film that’s daring you to walk out in disgust.

But then, isn’t that preaching to the choir? And for those who stay, isn’t it just a lecture? Or is it just one big joke for Haneke’s own amusement?

No doubt there are some who will watch it for the very violence it supposedly critiques. Haneke, meanwhile, reaps the benefits of the ensuing controversy.

The film’s politics are problematic to say the least. But more important is that in a post-torture porn world the film no longer shocks.

The drawn-out scenes, which are intended to be discomforting and squirmy, now just bore. And the smug, lecturing tone feels stale and hypocritical.

Funny Games is currently available.