Brianna Pace

I felt somewhat deceived by the trailers, as this movie was not what I was expecting. Does this make it a “bad” movie? Of course not! If anything, this deception gave me mixed feelings about the film. It’s well-acted, well-shot, and does not pull any punches with the story. I should be upfront and state that “Rape Revenge” movies are not for me, as I find the genre to be full of movies that use a traumatic experience as a plot device to enact unrealistic and over-the-top revenge. This movie is the first one I’ve seen in the genre that takes a different approach and does it well. It pushes the sexual boundaries without going too far, and the revenge is taken out in a psychological manner rather than physical or violent. [SPOILERS] My only issues with the film are as follows: 1) Why didn’t she do more to the “good guys” who take her home? I get that she fakes being drunk to lure them in, but her plan is basically saying, “You tried to take advantage of a drunk girl. Shame on you.” Why not leave more of an emotional scar? It’s something that I don’t understand, and it’s something that I felt the writers could’ve done somewhat better. 2) By the end of the film, I got the message that “All men can’t be trusted.” You are led to believe that Cassie has found a truly great guy in Ryan, only for it to be revealed that he was a bystander to the rape. It took me a while to realize that the one man that was pitiable was the lawyer, as he deeply regretted his actions and he was spared from Cassie’s actions. He was even the one to put Al in handcuffs in the end. I now understand that the intended message was, “All men have the potential for horrible actions, and that just standing by and doing nothing makes you just as guilty”. 3) Did we need a comedian to star in the film for the sake of dark comedy? At first, I questioned whether the film needed comedy at all, but I considered that it could help off-balance the dark tone and serious issues at hand. If you want dark comedy, okay then that’s fine. But why do we need a comedian for it? Was the purpose of casting Bo Burnham “let’s get a comedian to skew the audience into thinking that he’s meant to be the romantic and comedic relief, then we’ll drop a bomb three-fourths into the film”? With these issues being addressed, I highly praised all of the cinematography, all of the acting, and some of the tone. Would I recommend this film for others to watch? I’d say, if you think you can handle such a heavy subject matter, go for it. I see it as a film that everyone should watch at least once in the lifetime, and a film that could be introduced for analysis in film schools.