Prevenge (2016) Review
Prevenge (2016) Review
Prevenge melds black comedy, murder, pregnancy-anxiety and bereavement into an absorbing, addictive mix. Widow Ruth (Alice Lowe) is seven months pregnant. She has a habit of killing people, apparently spurred on by the inner voice of her unborn child. However Prevenge is no slasher flick, which becomes clear as Ruth’s real reason for her homicidal leanings becomes clearer as the story unfolds.
Prevenge is written and directed by it’s heavily pregnant star Alice Lowe. Lowe previously starred in Ben Wheatley’s tonally uneven Sightseers, so I kind of expected a similar beat to this – even though Wheatley’s not involved, just the way the mind works I suppose. Lowe’s performance is terrific and for a first-time Prevenge is an outstanding accomplishment. It may rub some male viewers up the wrong way – men don’t like to be the victims or made out to be cunts, they feel safer when women are the victims in films.
Male critics have argued that the male victims in Prevenge are stereotypes, really? I found the victims felt like well rounded, living and breathing people rather than caricatures biased male critics labelled them as being. These same critics will quite happily sit through a film where females are portrayed as all surface and no depth because it appeals to their outmoded thinking.
I liked that I was effectively watching a slasher where I wasn’t subjected to another round of generic female victims – there to have sex and flash their boobs before screaming through their final moments. I imagine had Prevenge been a directorial feature début from a man rather than a woman the film might have gained a bigger foothold.
The film’s tone is amusing, rather than laugh-out loud funny, and anchored by a lead performance from Lowe that perfectly nails the mixture of emotions coursing through her pregnant, heavily grieving frame. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her – an exceptional performance. The supporting cast of male and female victims are equally excellent – especially Tom Davis as DJ Dan, we all know a total prick like him – and it’s wonderful to see such unsympathetic arseholes get their just deserts.
