10 Amazing Revenge Films That Are Really Bleak
1. A Vigilante (2019)
The subject matter of A Vigilante hits too close to home for many audiences and critics alike with an array of diverse interpretations of what domestic abuse and those affected looks like.
In this quiet and very personal drama, Olivia Wilde plays a cross-country angel of vengeance called Sadie, who delivers remorseless and violent revenge on the men who harmed women too afraid to fight back.
Alongside this narrative are painfully real vignettes that peer into women's refuge hostels where anecdotes and stories of abuse are shared. When the cameras focus on Sadie, we're finally given the motivation behind her actions and it is as tormented as we imagine.
The latter half of the film shows Sadie hunt for her own tormentor; an estranged husband on the run who committed an unspeakable act against their own child.
Even when Sadie collects the debt and gets her revenge, it's not cathartic; especially not for Sadie. She's a virtuous character who isn't looking for justice, but payback for all the bad that she's endured.
The reality of the film is that Sadie may have triumphed in her story, there are thousands of more stories in the world that are barely being treated the way this one is.