MFA (2017)

Directed by: Natalia Leite | 92 minutes | thriller | Actors: Francesca Eastwood, Clifton Collins Jr., Leah McKendrick, Peter Vack, David Sullivan, David Huynh, Marlon Young, Jess Nurse, Mary Price Moore, Melanie Britton, Michael Welch, Mike C. Manning, Kyle McKeever, Kyler Pettis, Mariah Owen, Alexandra Fatovich, John Benitz, Ryan W. Garcia

What do you do when something terrible has happened to you, but no one believes you? When you are all alone and justice is not self-evident? Director Natalia Leite’s ‘MFA’ dares to ask tough questions about a very topical issue – sexual misconduct.

When reclusive college student Noelle (Franceska Eastwood) is raped at a party, her world collapses. The university does not deal with the crime due to lack of evidence and her friend, a rape victim herself, therefore advises her to let it rest. But something snaps at Noelle and she decides to take the law into her own hands by killing several rapists.

Director Leitte drew on personal experiences to make the film as believable as possible. The circumstances of Noelle’s rape, then, feel painfully real – not a scary man jumping out of the bushes, but a seemingly nice guy in an unguarded one-on-one moment at a party, in such a way that the outsiders think she’s okay. consent happened. That makes the sense of injustice after the rape all the stronger, especially in the MeToo era.

‘MFA’ works because of the strong, intimate playing of lead actress Eastwood. The whole story revolves around Noelle, and Eastwood portrays her transformation from timid college girl to ruthless serial killer with gusto. We sympathize with her for the great injustice she encounters, so that we almost even agree with her choice to forcibly liberate the world from rapists. However, everything happens very quickly. While the circumstances that caused Noelle to cross the line into murder still seem credible, it’s highly unlikely that an art student will suddenly know exactly what to do to avoid being caught. The film steps over that a little too quickly, although we continue to sympathize with Noelle.

However, the slightly too sharp change of tone when Noelle ‘crosses the Rubicon’ does not detract from the strength of the story and Eastwood’s playing. For lovers of serious drama about sensitive subjects, ‘MFA’ is definitely recommended.