Revenge (18)
Directed by Coralie Fargeat

REVENGE, in which a sexy Lolita turns into a vengeful killing machine, is a feminist thriller worthy of the Time's Up campaign. It's not for the faint of heart or stomach.

Writer and director Coralie Fargeat turns the genre on its head by having a woman protagonist, who initially appears as the stereotypical victim, transform from prey into mighty hunter.

The film begins with the young and coquettish Jen (an astounding Matilda Lutz) arriving at a lush remote desert villa to spend a dirty weekend with her millionaire playboy boyfriend Richard (Kevin Janssens), who also happens to be married.

Things go awry when his two hunting pals turn up early and make unwanted advances which soon escalate to rape.

The opening scenes are full of shots of Jen's pert derriere and of her looking sexy and tempting in skimpy outfits as she dances provocatively with one of Richard's friends, who completely misreads the signs.

This raises the question, explored more powerfully and effectively in Jodie Foster's The Accused, “Was she asking for it dressed and acting in that way?” The answer of course is in the negative. No means no.

As Jen threatens to out Richard and his friends if he doesn't let her leave the villa, she signs her own fate, ending up at the bottom of a cliff impaled on a tree.

That is when the film loses the plot — and me. She miraculously survives and, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, discards her old Lolita skin to emerge as a killer Lara Croft, turning from a Bardot blonde to a gun-toting brunette. Blood and gore ensue in scenes of painfully graphic violence which make for difficult viewing.

The film requires a complete suspension of disbelief, very hard to do in the second half of what becomes an action thriller of revenge female fantasy, ending on an almost farcical blood-drenched note. But, in terms of reinterpreting what's a male-dominated genre, this is a very interesting first step.