After reviewing such a god-awful film in my last review, I had to take a little time to decide on a good one to follow it up with. Re-starting my horror review series with The Drone was certainly a risky move, and I wanted to follow it up with a film I felt was really strong.
I had a few movies in mind but this one I felt was powerful enough to be a good follow up. The last review was of an over the top stupid, goofy movie; and I thought the seriousness of this one would do well in contrast. Bring everything back to reality after the embarrassment of writing about one of the most disappointing "horror/comedy" movies of all time about a god damn drone.
I first viewed this film a month ago or so on Shudder. I had scrolled past it a few times, the cover looked intriguing and it was rated fairly high. I was surprised I hadn't heard of it before. Then again, it's 2021 and COVID season, so I guess I don't really heard about much anymore. Additionally, with a title such as "Revenge"; well, I very well may have heard of it and just never remembered the name.
TRIGGER WARNING : Sexual Assault/Violence
As I was about to delve into my review, I figured I should leave that there. I don't think I've ever done a trigger warning before, but this is a topic that makes people extremely uncomfortable and can be traumatic to read about. Of course, I won't be getting into details of that part, but, I do think that it should be noted up front that this movie deals quite a bit with assault/rape. I mean, it's rape. But, even that word can be triggering, so I feel as though if it was for a reader; they might have turned away at S.A. I had a difficult time watching a particular scene in the movie, and I'm sure there are others who will as well. But, if it's a topic you can fight through, this movie is worth it.
Now, the rape/revenge exploitation genre is a bit of a cliche one. And to be honest, I usually skip most of them. As do most people, I believe. But this one is quite a bit different. It destroys the "male gaze" concept and takes the viewer on a wild ride from thinking "this is a trash exploitation film" and flips it to "holy shit this is just what I wanted to see". And that's intentional.
So without further ado, let's get into it!
Revenge (2017)
Directed by Coralie Fargeat
Revenge is the debut from French writer/director Coralie Fargeat. As I mentioned before, this is a subject that many don't want to watch and that has been beaten into the ground seemingly beyond redemption. And when I realized that the film was of this subgenre, I didn't exactly have high hopes. But damn, was I impressed.
The film follows the story of the scantily-clad, suggestive, stereotypical "eye candy" Jen, played by Matilda Lutz. Lutz's performance in this film is one of the best leads I've seen in a very long time. Jen goes on a secret vacation with her extremely wealthy fuck-buddy Richard, who is also very much so married; obviously to another woman. That doesn't seem to much bother either of them.
When Richard's two friends decide to show up for a surprise hunting trip, things get a little dicey. One of them proceeds to rape Jen while Richard is away, and when he returns, he doesn't want to seem to take much accountability. He is more concerned with his marriage and his career than he is about her, and offers to essentially pay her off and fund her new life in Canada. When Jen doesn't happily accept his offer, he decides it's easier to kill her than face accountability. Jen, however, does not die; and seeks to get revenge on the men who have destroyed her life.
Now, if you're thinking I should have put a spoiler alert before that short synopsis; reconsider what the title of the film implies and the subject matter. I considered it, but didn't know how else to provide a brief plot summary without giving away more. And there's so much more to see.
Lutz's performance in this is undoubtedly the highlight of the movie. It's a character transformation that simultaneously serves as a transformation in the viewer's eyes of the tone and implications of the movie. The combination of these two evolutions and the way the work together to captivate the audience and challenge their perceptions is what truly makes this film stand out from the rest in this testy sub-genre and a testament to the directors potential.
The last thing I will say before dropping the spoilers is that this movie is BLOODY. In a "tasteful" way, I suppose; whatever that may mean. And it's hard to watch. Not the blood; but the context. As the film goes on, however, it becomes consistently easier and better to watch; and you'll be cheering for the violence by the time you're through with it.
I highly recommend this movie if the premise is something you can stomach. Fargeat leaves nothing out of this. I will say that it is fairly unrealistic; there are certainly times where things would not work out the same way medically in the real world as they do in the film. But it's intentional. And it's heartwarming. I couldn't be MORE excited to see what this director brings to the table next. An incredible debut, taking a risk at redefining one of the more tired and taboo subgenres in the horror/thriller realm. And the risk paid off. Give it a watch.
My Rating: 8.5/10
Spoilers
The film opens with Jen and Richard being flown to their extravagant, remote location on a helicopter. The cinematography heavily emphasizes the "remoteness" of the desert location to give an air of things to come; whether or not the viewer knows what they're in for yet(although, let's be honest, the only people who don't have an idea haven't bothered to even read the title). Immediately the director sets the atmosphere for the first part of the film; a patriarchal shot from inside the helicopter that shows Richard's face in focus up front and center; sunglasses on and a serious "manly" look on his face with Jen sitting in the back of the chopper, out of focus, wearing LA-style sunglasses and sucking suggestively on a lollipop. The way Fargeat plays with the gender concepts throughout this film is one of the notions that makes this film so enjoyable. She makes it immediately clear that Jen's character is there for sex appeal and nothing else, and then flips that on it's head so brutally it could captivate even the worst of misogynists.
Likewise, the imagery she used for the men is powerful. Richard is shown as a primitive man who cannot control his sexual urges immediately; both in the way he looks at Jen when their eyes haven't met and that he leaves the bedroom to answer a call from his wife in the first scene. Additionally, upon the introduction of Richard's two friends, Jen turns around while eating an apple in her panties and her "I <3 LA" t shirt to see two men hold firearms staring at her through the glass doors of the isolated desert vacation home. The three men of the film have all been marked as predators within the first 3 minutes; and yet the female lead character is still playing the sex appeal role and doesn't seem to mind all that much.
The first scenes of the film offer a lot of foreshadowing and important context. Jen is continued to be sexualized. The men continue to play their role in this. And Jen continues to seem not to mind too much. One of the most important developments for the rest of the film, however, is the bag of peyote given to Richard by the helicopter pilot in the first scene. When his friends become interested, he asks Jen to hide it from them, and she hides it in her locket necklace; unbeknownst to Richard. It isn't mentioned after that but it certainly sticks in the viewers mind until we see it next.. which will be quite some time.
It doesn't take long for the movie to get extremely uncomfortable. Richard is out of the house the next morning, and Jen and the man oogling over her the night before are along while the other friend sleeps a hangover over on a pool floatie. Given the premise of the film, I don't think I need to tell you what happens during this scene; nor do I want to.
Richard returns and upon learning of the events that transpired, he proves he is just as big a piece of shit as his friends are and proceeds to try to pay her off and even suggests they all carry as though nothing happened. Again, I won't go into detail but this scene is almost as hard to watch as the prior one. Jen makes a run for it, and after another series of horrible events, Jen is pushed off a 100-foot cliff and lands on a dead tree, impaling her through her lower stomach.
This scene, and Jen's survival throughout the next bulk of the movie are entirely unrealistic. She would have been dead. But, it's intentional, and if you can get over it it does kind of add to the movie in a sense. Anyways, the men plan on going hunting as planned, and covering up the murder while they were at it.
I had to go a little more in depth than I wanted to about all the unpleasantness; because it sets the premise for the rest of the movie. It's an extremely disturbing storyline; but it's important to how the film works. I'm not going to write about every scene the way I have been; I promise.
Jen manages to reach her lighter, while being literally stuck on a dead tree, broken trunk going straight through her abdomen. She reaches the lighter and manages to set fire to the base(it is the desert, so everything would be extremely dry); and somehow that breaks the tree and frees herself; wood still sticking out of both sides of her.
This is when it starts to turn from fucking horrible to absolutely badass. Upon realizing Jen is gone, the men start hunting her around a lake(? it's nighttime at this point), after following her trail of blood. They split up, and Jen sneaks up on the first guy(not Richard or the rapist; the third) and grabs his firearm while he's taking a piss. It turns out to be a trap, and the man radios the other two to say he'll take care of her. That is, until she snags his life while he's drowning her, and in the first bout of positivity throughout the film; stabs him right in the fucking eye. Before he can fall, she's knifed him twice more, gets his other eye and leaves the hunting knife in it. The guys blind as shit thrashing around in the water screaming his head off as she just watches. After the shit she's been through, it's quite an uplifting scene.
The tone changes dramatically in this first kill. The score lets you know things have changed; it's Jen's time now. This is the moment where Lutz's acting starts to become astounding. There's a period of about ten seconds where the strength of her character becomes more than apparent, and she goes from a predator's dream to their worst nightmare. Her development is undoubtedly one of the key roles in this movie. She is an absolutely incredible actress.
After shitboy #1's murder, the other two men operate under the impression he's taken care of her so it takes them until daylight to find his body(in a rather comical manner). This allows our hero to escape to a cave on his 4-wheeler, where the real transformation of her character occurs and her utter will to live and ingenuity shines.
She had managed to escape with the man's firearm and backpack, chock full of ammo, knives, binoculars, a snack and a single tall boy of a Mexican beer. Then, she remembers the peyote.
She eats the drug, starts tripping pretty hard and mid trip and in the midst of her numbness to feeling caused by the drug, manages to cut out the branch lodged in her abdomen, cuts the beer can in half, heats it over the fire and cauterize the wound that is gushing blood with the can; all while being high as fuck and not feeling a thing. She passes out immediately after, and following one of those multiple-nightmare-crazy-drug-induced-dream sequence(you know, the ones where they keep waking up in another dream); she emerges from her trip as she is below; fully loaded with the man's leftover artillery, a cauterized wound and a fierce appetite for vengeance.
Using her binoculars, she hunts down her rapist as he's searching for her in an SUV. He runs out of gas and while he's filling up with fuel he had on hand, Jen quickly pops him one in the shoulder from a distance. He sheepishly tries to run away, tying off his shoulder wound with a sock. As she is searching for him, she notices the boot left behind and knows he has one bare foot. He pulls a fast one on her and clips her in the ear, and as she's running for the advantage on the narrow road, knowing he would be keeping to the inside where there is coverage, she cleverly breaks the glass of her flashlight along the way; on which he proceeds to step on with his bare inside foot.
It is SO satisfying to hear him scream in pain. The unpleasantness of the film works well as designed; for although Jen is the victim throughout, the directing and characters are clear on one thing; the men are the weak ones, and the visuals and auditory stimulation from this guy screaming and writhing in pain is soo soothing. Especially watching him try to put his foot to the gas pedal after he makes it back to the vehicle. In contrast to what she had gone through, and the way they handled it.. beautiful.
It's one of my favorite themes throughout the film. It takes the patriarchal society's stereotypes of "weak women" and "strong men" and flips it tastefully. She(the director) initially portrays the genders as so, and throughout the film peels away the masculinity facade and empowers the hell out of the strong female lead. Not to mention the decision making factors. Shitboy stupidly tries to run her down, without many positive outcomes for himself, and she puts one right through his skull before tossing his body out the driver's seat and taking the vehicle to hunt down her supposed "boyfriend" for one last bit of revenge.
The last scene is just wonderful. I understand if you're not one for blood, but the way it works with the colors and warmth of these last shots(and throughout) is amazing. There's a little cat and mouse chase back at the house that ensues after Richard assumes she won't have the strength or guts to make it back there, and he calls for an immediate chopper rescue and hops in the shower.
He hears a noise while washing the blood and dirt off himself, which leaves him naked in the final scene. This continues the constant theme of displaying this stereotypically "macho" man as absolutely pathetic, egotistic and childish. Massive torso wound, chasing his victim around the house while "tough-guy" screaming and grunting in pain, slipping in blood, naked, pitiful; disgusting. Stupid. It's untraditionally comical and relieves some of the harshness that the film's topic offers. But, at the same time, all too serious.
The climax arrives as, again, he manages to gain the upper hand out of pure luck and stupidly wastes his time trying to "talk tough" and belittle the girl; the dialogue peppered with social commentary you'd only hear from the most sexist ideologies imaginable. Stereotypical lines, deep-cutting lines; including his last words, "women always have to put up a fight" as he's holding her up by the throat; his egotistic need to give a condescending speech opening the opportunity to shove her hand into his gunshot wound and disarming him. She blasts him in the chest at close range from the blood-soaked ground, sending him flying across the room and letting his dead body drop to the ground. It's a beautiful sigh of relief for the listener.
Jen then casually walks over his carcass and outside to wait for the helicopter, and the credits roll.
What a fucking film
I intentionally chose still images to highlight the actress rather than the men. Lutz is without a doubt the real star in this film and the imagery that accompanies her incredible talent and development is stunning. Even if you read past spoilers without having viewed the film, I still would encourage you to go watch it; if you can stomach it.
I would have never thought I would see a movie of this subgenre that struck me this way again. The work of writer/director Coralie Fargeat is incredible, especially for a debut film, and I can't wait to see what more she has to offer. This movie takes the viewer on a wild ride of emotions and reconstructs your expectations throughout the film. A difficult to watch movie about a difficult social dialogue that is more important than society will ever admit. An amazing piece of feminist artwork that refuses to sugarcoat the issue of sexual violence, nor back down to fit the mold of what mainstream audiences want to see.
I really can't praise this film enough. Give it a watch if you haven't. Thank you so much for stopping by; all love to the HIVE.
With love,
Herbert
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I don't like horror movies very much
But I liked the way you write, thank you
Thank you for reading! I’m a big horror nerd, actually I strictly review horror movies and almost exclusively watch them. So you might not like my content 😂 but i appreciate the read and comment!
Your current Rank (51) in the battle Arena of Holybread has granted you an Upvote of 31%