Revenge (5/5) – Movie Review

Revenge is one of the best female-driven vengeance and survival movies, I have ever watched. In fact, it might even be the best and you should all enjoy this crazy ride from writer-director Coralie Fargeat.

Revenge stars Matilda Lutz (or Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, as she is also known) in the all-important and powerful starring role. The entire cast consists of only her and three men. Well, plus a very brief appearance of a fourth man and the voice of an additional woman over the phone. And it is absolutely perfect!

Every one of the four characters, the story focuses on, are interesting and portrayed with such awesome finesse. There really isn’t one person, who is just one thing. Well, maybe one guy is mostly a jerk, but then again, anyone could be a complete jerk if you only see them in one bad situation. And the “situation” in Revenge is most definitely bad.

You will be completely engulfed in this crazy ride of a story for the entire runtime.

Through the eyes of a woman

It’s not always that it’s obvious when a woman directs a movie. Many would argue that it shouldn’t be (and I’m usually one of them). Still, when you watch a movie like Revenge it becomes clear due to the way the woman is shown on screen and the way men are shown.

In this movie, the woman is most definitely sexy, when she tries to be. But once the movie changes pace and she’s fighting for her own survival, her body is shown as strong and not just a sex symbol. That does actually require quite the steady hand when she is literally fighting in her underwear.

Also, the lead male character is portrayed by the very handsome Kevin Janssens. Obviously, this means his character is also shown as a sex symbol. He even gets to do some of the typical female shots. Such as the slow shower scene and walking around naked.

In fact, the only character we see completely naked is male. He is also covered in blood in an American Psycho kind of way and it is f*cking awesome!

A very real situation – with extra blood in the end!

There are some very subtle moments that most people – yes, both male and female – will probably recognize. Regardless of which end of the situation, you’ve been on. And how honest you are with yourself. It was often during these simple scenes that you started to feel how things would go wrong.

When we watched Revenge at a horror film festival screening, it was very interesting to see the audience reactions. I always love sitting in the back row, so I can see others react. Most (if not all) women were really into it, and most men thought it was really awesome.

And then there were the few men that seemed to feel this movie was very unrealistic. Apparently, realism is very important in horror movies, when you feel personally targeted…

Obviously, most bad situations don’t end up with a woman running around in the desert with three guys hunting her down. But the situation, leading up to those moments, is all too real. And women sure have sat through a lot of movies featuring tough guys surviving more than the woman in this movie has to endure.

Coralie Fargeat has arrived!

Coralie Fargeat wrote and directed Revenge and this has instantly put her on my “never miss”-list. Whatever this woman comes out with in the future, I will instantly want to watch.

Not bad for a feature film debut, because yes, this is the first feature film for Coralie Fargeat. Both as a writer and director. She has done two short films in the past, but that’s it.

Also, she even did the editing for Revenge, so she is a very well-rounded filmmaker in every way. Somebody throw some money her way, so she can get working on a new movie asap!

Revenge is currently screening at film festivals worldwide. We watched it at the Blodig Weekend [Danish for “Bloody Weekend”] film festival in Copenhagen on April 14, 2018.

It will be out in theaters in US and UK May 11, 2018.

Details

Director: Coralie Fargeat
Writer: Coralie Fargeat
Stars: Matilda Lutz, Kevin Janssens, Vincent Colombe, Guillaume Bouchède

Plot

Never take your mistress on an annual guys’ getaway, especially one devoted to hunting – a violent lesson for three wealthy married men.