Revenge (I Spit on Your Male Gaze)

 

Revenge is a 2017 outing from The Substance director Coralie Fargeat. If the latter was riffing on Cronenberg body horror, this is an elevated I Spit on Your Grave sequel starring a female Mike Danton (or you could go with John Rambo if that’s your taste, it’s not mine). This movie takes forever to get going, but once she’s done cauterizing her wounds with an unraveled energy drink can after falling off a cliff and being penetrated in the guts by a real stabby desert tree, Revenge then demands your attention and you will gladly put down the phone for the remainder (really, that’s just how I should rate movies, the percentage of time I give it my full attention multiplied by the √ of π).

   

With the current gonzo success of The Substance, I feel it’s impossible to not compare the two. Fargeat continued to explore a lot of the same themes. I feel she has a love for the female form, and an abject hatred towards the male gaze. Like you know those old shock videos? Where a lady will be getting nekkid, but then smsah cut to the worst part of a narco execution video as a kinda fuck you for looking at that? I get those vibes from both. But Revenge is a lot more direct action in its response. Men are the ones getting penetrated this time or destroyed by guns (the direct extension of a phallus to continue this metaphor) but boy, if you’re just here for the gore, you’re covered too. Satisfying shotgun blasts, bloated corpses, stabbed out eyes, gaping foot wounds, and buckets of blood equals Revenge.

 

Written by Grant of the Corn Part XI

Revenge (2017, 2018)
Director: Coarlie Fargeat
Distributor: Rezo Films
4.3 / 5