Is the rape-revenge genre just a way to bring the dual spectacles of rape and violence to a male audience? This is a French movie from first-time feature director and screenwriter Coralie Fargeat, and there is no doubt that it is smart, gruesomely violent and stylishly made. The DayGlo colours in the burning sun are as fierce as the retributive action brought by the plot. It has been hailed as a subversive feminist take on this form – although it is open to question whether the film would look all that different if it were directed by a man.
Revenge is not unlike Kill Bill, a modern classic that Uma Thurman has placed in a new light by disclosing what the director put her through in its making. The story concerns Richard (Kevin Janssens), a rich, arrogant type who has brought an extramarital girlfriend to his luxury chalet in the desert for a weekend’s hunting. This is super-sexy Jen (Matilda Lutz) who knows he is married, doesn’t care and enjoys being lusted over. But then arrive his two ugly incel buddies: Stan (Vincent Columbe) and Dimitri (Guillaume Bouchède) who slaver over Jen and envy Richard’s alpha-male prerogative. When he is out one morning, things take a brutal course. And then Jen, with superhuman or supernatural strength (again, very like the Bride in Kill Bill) sets out to exact a bloody revenge on all of them. These three infernos of violence are stomach-turningly shocking, though without the tension of something recognisably rooted in real life. A well made film, which slithers confidently in its slick of blood.
