Revenge (2017)

Directed by: Coralie Fargeat | 108 minutes | action, horror | Actors: Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, Kevin Janssens, Vincent Colombe, Guillaume Bouchède

‘Revenge’ is an intense and extremely gory thriller that initially appears to be a dime-a-dozen film, but soon develops into an edge-of-your-seat experience that won’t leave you in the cold. Rich Richard (Kevin Janssens) has taken his mistress Jennifer (Matilda Lutz) to a luxurious villa in the American desert. They have a few days together before Richard embarks on his annual hunt with two friends. But then the friends, Stan (Vincent Colombe) and Dimitri (Guillaume Bouchède) arrive too early. Stan, in particular, is immediately interested in the scantily clad and naive Jennifer (aka Jen). When Richard is going to arrange the hunting permits, he assaults her. Meanwhile, Dimitri pretends his nose is bleeding. Jennifer gets no support at all from her lover when Richard returns. On the contrary, she is physically abused and after an attempt to escape, Jennifer is seriously injured and left for dead in the desert. However, she is by no means dead and she wants revenge on the three men.

Delicacy cannot be blamed on director Coralie Fargeat – who also wrote the story – in her feature-length debut. The word ‘bloodbath’ is very appropriate for this raw and astonishingly effective film, in which a female victim not only reverses the roles, but discovers her inner strength. What happens to Jennifer is portrayed by the strong acting Lutz through her facial expression and her fierce, hate-hungry eyes. After the first quarter of the film, in which she frolicates through the image, not a word passes her lips. That makes her performance all the more impressive. With the determination of a Terminator (but with more vulnerability), she hunts down the three hunters who made her life hell. First of all, Stan, the man who raped her. But she also has the other two in her sights. The sluggish-looking but shrewd Dimitri, abandoned her when she needed help. Above all, however, she wants to take revenge on Richard, her lover who heartlessly betrayed her when it suited him. He brought her to the villa, he humiliated her and sided with his friends and was responsible (without revealing much) that she came to the brink of death. As a viewer you want nothing more than to encourage her, although the violence is sometimes quite excessive. The fact that the film is also laced with a cynical undertone and quite black humor is a nice bonus. But Fargeat has more to offer than just depicting a massacre in the gruesome detail. The build-up of tension and especially the brooding atmosphere that arises as soon as Stan lets his horny eyes fall on Jen is masterful.

That the film here and her mocks the laws of nature and the limits to the endurance of the human body may be forgiven ‘Revenge’. Yet it is here and there made too much: the amounts of blood that the makers conjure up on the screen should be enough for ten adults. Injuries are portrayed in horribly realistic close-up, but the consequences should almost immediately lead to death for the characters, whether or not via shock. Admittedly, it’s “just a movie” and it fits the genre just fine. (and of course there are examples of people who can still function – temporarily – with horrific injuries). What sometimes really bothers you are carelessness and mistakes that are definitely not necessary. A headrest that is shattered to shreds, only to be whole a few seconds later, weird changes of position of objects between shots and windshields that miraculously recover from bullet holes. Whether this is the result of a lack of clear continuity in filming or of alternative scenes being used interchangeably, it does distract from the otherwise grueling developments.

Visually, the film is also very attractive: Jen’s transformation, or rather her rebirth, is very beautifully portrayed. Fargeat has a keen eye for stylistically beautiful shots, well supported by cinematographer Robrecht Heyvaert. From the detail of an ant scurrying around in her drops of blood, the sun-bleached hills and rocks to the heavily stylized and coldly decorated villa – where the start and denouement take place -, it’s all right. Sometimes the symbolism is a bit overdone, such as the very literal use of the mythical bird the phoenix (symbol of resurrection).

Each and every one of the men are blackjacks who – in the philosophy of the film – deserve to die horribly. Of the three hunted bastards, Vincent Colombe has the best role as Stan. Who wouldn’t watch a certain scene with their toes curled up where Stan’s foot takes a beating?

Both the setup and execution of the screenplay are not original and most viewers have seen similar films before. And yet ‘Revenge’ is more than the well-nicked pieces from other films and can certainly stand on its own two feet as a very effective chase thriller, as an action film and as a horror film. Well worth it.