You might be forgiven for thinking that the autumn is the season for revenge. In the coming weeks there are 3 revenge style thrillers all being released on these shores.

Harry Brown is from the UK and stars Michael Caine; Law Abiding Citizen is from the states and stars Gerard Butler while this film hails from Australia. Each continent has approached the subject in a different way with this film from writer, director and producer Steven Kastrissios is the most brutal and shocking of the lot.

It tells the story of Christian (Peter Marshall) a grieving father who has to identify his daughters body after she is found dead from a heroin overdose. Later he is sent a pornographic video in the mail that shows his daughter being sexually assaulted by a group of men and enraged about this, he sets off to find the men responsible and punish them for it.

Although we have seen these kinds of films before over the decades from Charles Bronson in Death Wish to Nic Cage in 8mm this new film is an amalgamation of them both and works extremely effectively in its lo-fi dirty and raw shot style. The story starts with a girl on a dirty street looking screwed up and ill and we soon learn it is Christians daughter Jessie who dies and sets the events in motion which spurns her father into action.

One of the things that works so well for this thriller is that we dont recognize any of the actors involved, and so we have no emotional baggage with them (like we would with Caine and Butler). Because of this factor you find yourself drawn into Christians nightmare and his quest for vengeance, and Marshalls performance is excellent making his angst and anger wholly believable but showing a human side to his character when he picks up a young female hitchhiker called Alice (Caroline Marohasy) and befriends her along the way. Alices character gives credence to the idea that Christian is not a monster but a father merely driven to extremes to keep the sacred memory of his daughter intact as his actions are completely reprehensible.

 

The violence and torture in the film maybe justified in Christians mind but it makes for some uncomfortable viewing for an audience and includes such things as genital torture, beatings with a claw hammer and people being set on fire. All making this brutal and vicious to watch but strangely compelling as you are firmly rooting for Christian and his actions.

Another thing that works well and makes this intelligent and thought provoking is the script from Kastrissios who makes you question the validity of Christians revenge as he and we learn along the way that his daughter may have actually chosen to be in the video herself and could have been addicted to heroin prior to its filming. This begs the question what kind of father must have Christian been to drive his only daughter and wife away from him and how easily he takes to the extreme behaviour he exhibits.

Overall this is a stunning, brutal, gripping and intelligent film making that is well worth checking out and will provide lots to talk about and discuss long after the credits role.

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By: Mark Cappuccio