Dripping with Misogyny, this film has something ugly to say about society.
Well, this is something different. In a way I needed to see this too, a horror movie that actually makes you think. There is a sense of helplessness that envelopes this film. A sense that you just cannot break free, and that is horrifying. What we witness here is a breakdown in society, and I could not help but be reminded of the film "Frailty" and the way Bill Paxton's character had an effect on his boys. Also American History X, with Edward Norton and his upbringing and what results of it, came to mind. This is a very powerful film, and unlike "The Tall Man", this message works. The mistake that film made was that it never showed us why, but did not let us witness it. This film is just unleashed, with none of the ugliness hidden, and is better for it.
Honestly, there is not much to the plot...it's very simple. It's more about the characters and how "The Woman" affects them and changes their lives. So a quick summary is all that is needed before I start digging into the meat of all this. The movie starts off with us witnessing a savage woman hunting in the wilderness. There is a suggestion that she has been raised by wolves and that's how she got this way. Enter Chris Cleek (played brilliantly by Sean Bridgers) and a party going on at his house. Immediately we see that things are not quite right. Most disturbing is a scene of a young girl getting picked on by several boys, and Chris' son Brian (Zach Rand) watching with almost complete disinterest. Indeed, he is more focused on making his dad proud by completing free throws. The why of this is revealed later, but it's all cleverly tied in. So Chris goes hunting one night and see's "the woman". Immediately it's uncomfortable, as he has her in his sights and is contemplating just shooting her. But no, it will be more fun to capture her and "civilize" her. So this is what he does, and gets one of his fingers bit half off as a result of it. No, there was no reason at all that the finger that got bit off was his wedding ring finger...there is no subtext to it...just move on.
Anyway, the more we see of Chris, the more we understand just how awful of a person he is. He has no respect for women at all, even in his own family. He is the ruler supreme, and is rubbing off on his son. There are a lot of metaphors going on here. First off, Chris is hardly what I would call a "civilized" person. I don't want to ruin any of the pivotal scenes here, because there are all very shocking and powerful, but let's just say that he rules with a "firm hand" and you don't back-talk. So, who is more civilized here...Chris and this joke of a family he has, or "the woman"...hoisted up in the outside shed. All of the women in this film are victims, and all of the men are portrayed as predators. By showing us the ugly sides of Chris and just who he is, and just how little respect he has for the women in his family, it's not hard for us to side with them. Be warned, there are some shocking scenes of domestic violence here. All of it is grossly on display.
Angela Bettis knocks it out of the park in this film. As the put upon wife "Belle", she displays a raging soul, that is afraid to fight back...but she wants to so badly. She is as trapped as "the woman" is. And what of the performance by "the woman" herself? Well, Pollyanna McIntosh does a lot being chained up and grunting. We see things in her eyes, we feel bad for her. She symbolizes the women that are trapped in the family and seems to empathize with Peggy (Lauren Ashley Carter) and her little sister Darlin' (Shyla Molhusen) the most. Oddly enough, the only character that doesn't work for me is the lesbian school teacher Genevieve played by Carlee Baker. She seems to be in a different movie, a real indie production and her acting here is just not as consistent as the others. It's really the only issue I have with the film.
Domestic violence in general bothers me, so it may have made this film more effective than it might others. There are scenes in this movie that are really disturbing, and by the end of this film I really just wanted to see Chris and his son get what was coming to them. There is just no sense to their actions, and it makes you wonder if Chris' father was the same way, and this cycle has just been passed down. As such, the character of Chris is one of the better villains I have seen in awhile. Also, the way it's affecting his son, is downright chilling to me.
There are going to be some people that hate this film, and they are going to think i'm crazy for enjoying it. Abuse and bullying is something that sickens me as an individual, and this film takes an unflinching view of it from a woman's perspective. We really want to see them get out of this, it's hard to watch. And that is exactly the message I think Lucky was trying to send here, and I got it loud and clear. Just a few points off for the glaring bad acting done by the teacher, but this film is a solid
8.5 out of 10
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