Revenge

Revenge

Starring Matilda Lutz, Kevin Janssens, Vincent Colombe, Guillaume Bouchede

Directed by Coralie Fargeat

The Story:
Married man Richard (Kevin Janssens) and his friends Stan (Vincent Colombe) and Dimitri (Guillaume Bouchede) go on a hunting trip every year, but this time he brought a friend - his mistress Jen (Matilda Lutz).

After Stan rapes Jen, the men conspire together and push Jen over a cliff, supposedly killing her.  Yet Jen isn't quite dead, and she manages to muster her strength and fortitude to get revenge on the men who abused her and left her for dead.

The Synopsis:
Revenge films are inherently generic, as you already know the outcome long before the end credits roll.  You know the person who was wronged will achieve vengeance, and do so in a terribly gruesome way - look no further than the classic, cringe-worthy "I Spit on Your Grave" to compare.  "Revenge," a film written and directed by a female, takes this trope and elevates it to higher levels due to a strong lead performance, brilliant use of cinematography, excellent handling of sound, and copious amounts of blood.

Our heroine here is Jen, played flawlessly by Matilda Lutz.  She starts off the film as nothing more than a sexy plaything, a girl who seems to be the vapid, dim-witted beautiful girl who uses her only asset - her body - to her advantage.  She knows she's the other woman to Richard, and she doesn't seem to mind - especially since he's stinking rich and takes her to a beautiful, secluded house in the middle of the desert.

Yet it's not as secluded as she thought, as Richard's friends arrive early for their annual hunting trip.  Here is when things become dicey, as one of Richard's friends in particular has a jealous streak and wants Jen for himself, and will stop at nothing to achieve it.  While rape scenes are always difficult to film, director Coralie Fargeat relies on the sounds than gratuitously showing the act.  Up until that point, Jen is shown in beautiful colors, wearing pink, yellow and light blue shirts and listening to music on her pink phone, as everything about her is beautiful.  After this event - and especially after the men think they killed her - she becomes an empowered woman, shedding the bright colors for colors of vengeance and death, totally encompassing her own Phoenix tale.

As the hunters become the hunted, we witness female empowerment on a whole another level, as Jen pursues her wannabe killers with gusto and fierce determination, using every advantage at her disposal.  Here is where the cinematography and sound really kick in.  After they push her off a cliff, her blood drops on the ground like gunshots, seen through the eyes of an ant who tries to evade them like a soldier trying to evade bullets on the battlefield.  The beautiful, lush landscape of the desert serves as Jen's personal playground, using rocks and water to conceal herself and allowing her to sneak up on her unsuspecting prey.  It's a total role reversal, as the men pride themselves in hunting but instead they turn to the most vulnerable prey you can imagine.

For a vengeance film, you expect there to be blood, but Fargeat dumps gallons and gallons of blood on the screen and causes you to fully suspend your disbelief in thinking this is a story that could actually happen.  From the moment of Jen's supposed death (if you see it, you can't unsee it) to her bloody vengeance, there's hardly a moment you don't see blood on the screen, leading up to the blood-filled finale where you feel especially bad for the cleaning crew who would have to clean it all up.  I'm definitely not saying it's a bad thing, but this is where the fantasy part of the revenge fantasy comes into play.

The Summary:
Mixing female empowerment with a classic revenge tale, "Revenge" is filled with all the classic moments you'd expect from a film like this, with a strong female lead, stunning visuals, and loads of blood.

The Score: A