Review: 'Violation' Is a Complex Rape-Revenge Film that Examines Trauma

Focusing on violent retribution, rape-revenge films center rape survivors or confront rape culture, such as "Revenge," "Promising Young Woman," "Ms. 45," and "I Spit on Your Grave." The complex, subversive rape-revenge horror film "Violation" is a brutal, yet nuanced, examination of the aftermath of trauma on a rape survivor.

Starring Madeleine Sims-Fewer, who also co-wrote and co-directed with Dusty Mancinelli, "Violation" follows complicated protagonist Miriam as she and her husband, Caleb (Obi Abili), spend a weekend at a lakeside cabin with her sister, Greta (Anna Maguire), and brother-in-law, Dylan (Jesse LaVercombe).

Miriam's marriage is troubled; she and her husband are contentious and disconnected. Miriam and Greta share a close bond, although their relationship deteriorates when Miriam needs Greta most. Miriam and Dylan have a warm, teasing rapport, having been friends since childhood. But, as relaxing as the weekend may appear, it exudes a sinister feeling of unease.

Some time after the weekend, Miriam invites Dylan to the cabin, which he clearly envisions as a tryst. Miriam subtly rebuffs him and keeps asking about "that night by the fire." Miriam undresses Dylan as he shares erotic fantasies. It's an intriguing subversion, as his naked body becomes a site of violence and retribution. Miriam has set a trap, foreshadowed by a scene of bugs trapped in a spider's web. Similar to Gaspar Noé's "Irréversible," the non-linear film shows the act of revenge before revealing what prompted it: Miriam was raped. What Dylan described earlier as a seductive memory is a traumatic nightmare for Miriam.

The cabin scenes are gory and disturbing, with a searing intensity. Miriam is calculating in the execution of her retaliation. While she methodically prepared, she isn't ready for the emotions vengeance unleashes.

Shaky, hand-held cinematography reflects Miriam's emotional instability. Scenes of a wolf eating a rabbit, along with conversations about hunting, thematically connect to the theme of predator and prey. Several mountain lakeside landscape shots are upside down or mirrored, indicating Miriam's cataclysmic upheaval.

In a motel parking lot, Miriam intercedes in a couple's argument. She responds aggressively and confrontationally to the man. She says, "You think you scare me? ... I know men like you." Miriam has always defended others, as Greta's stories indicate with her nickname "white knight." But now rage and fury fuel her.

Madeleine Sims-Fewer gives a powerful performance spanning the full spectrum of emotions and wringing everything from the physicality of her role. You feel her howling rage, her triggering flashbacks, her wails of grief and pain as she gasps for air.

"Violation" exhumes the depths of anger and trauma. It also examines consent through an uncomfortable, yet pivotal, conversation between Miriam and Dylan, showing that, sadly, victims/survivors often know their rapist.

Most revenge films end once the protagonist achieves vengeance. But "Violation" subverts genre conventions, delving deeper to interrogate the ramifications of trauma and vengeance. The complex, unsettling film brilliantly stays with Miriam after her revenge to exhibit how trauma lingers and haunts a rape survivor. It also conveys that revenge doesn't necessarily bring satisfaction or solace. It's a difficult film to watch, but one I couldn't stop pondering.

"Violation" is available on Shudder on March 25, 2021.