Violation - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021
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Directed by: Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli
Written by: Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli
Starring: Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Anna Maguire, Jesse LaVercombe, Obi Abili, Jasmin Geljo, Cynthia Ashperger
Runtime: 107 min
Synopsis: Unhappily married Miriam (Madeleine Sims-Fewer) and Caleb (Obi Abili) join Miriam’s somewhat-estranged sister Greta (Anna Maguire) and husband Dylan (Jesse LaVercombe) at a lakeside cabin for a weekend of relaxation and reconciliation. Feeling spurned in attempts to connect with both Greta and Caleb, Miriam increasingly retreats to the easy comfort of her friendship with the affable Dylan. After a transgressive act of sexual violence, the film’s narrative vividly fractures, disorienting audiences while inextricably tying their experience to Miriam’s as she embarks on a vicious crusade of revenge.
This is my first viewing of a Madeleine Sims-Fewer - also the protagonist - and Dusty Mancinelli’s film. I added Violation to my Sundance’s schedule due to the macabre yet interesting premise, and I knew it wasn’t just another random rape-revenge movie. The first half clearly demonstrates how impactful and visually shocking Sims-Fewer and Mancinelli want their film to be, but the final act stretches the story a bit too far for my taste. Still, it’s a movie with an evident purpose that justifies all the cruelty with a traumatizing event that many women, unfortunately, have to deal with.
From explicit male nudity - something quite rare - to the excruciatingly long takes, Adam Crosby’s lingering camera transforms already gruesome, vomit-inducing scenes into something even more difficult of keeping the eyes on the screen. I instinctively looked away in certain seconds. Miriam’s turn to the Dark Side is depicted in a slightly abrupt way, and her revenge takes an excessively ruthless path I struggle to accept as something remotely possible. Some actions just raise one too many questions that ultimately hurt the narrative for me.
Despite the horrible event that changed her life, Sims-Fewer’s character isn’t exactly someone easy to root for since she wasn’t the best sister/wife way before that moment. Some character moments feel earned, while others are just violent for the sake of visual shock. Regarding the cast, everyone’s great, but Sims-Fewer delivers a powerful performance that left me feeling uneasy throughout the entire runtime. Technically, a final praise to Andrea Boccadoro’s score, which is incredibly ominous, contributing to the suspenseful, eerie atmosphere, but occasionally it’s just overwhelmingly distracting.
Final Thoughts
Violation is one of the most visually shocking, gruesome, disgusting films I’ve seen in quite some time. Madeleine Sims-Fewer shares direction and writing credits with Dusty Mancinelli, but she also portrays a somewhat divisive protagonist. While I understand her reasons and absolutely despise what happens to her, she isn’t exactly an easy character to connect with or even root for. The narrative follows an extremely dark path of revenge, told through an interesting nonlinear storytelling structure. However, its setup is slightly rushed and developed beyond my limit of fictional logic and comprehension. Despite being excessively violent at times, most of the brutal scenes feel justified. I deeply appreciate the lingering cinematography and the ominous score. I recommend it to non-sensitive viewers who’d like a more meaningful take on the revenge subgenre.
