Revenge

The New York Times by A.O. Scott

Revenge leaves a lurid, punchy afterimage, an impression somewhere between righteous delight and quivering revulsion. It’s both a challenge and a calling card, in which Ms. Fargeat at once exposes what’s wrong with her chosen genre and demonstrates her mastery of it.

ScreenCrush by Britt Hayes

Just when you thought rape-revenge movies had nothing left to say (if they even had anything to say in the first place), along comes Revenge — which transcends mere cleverness with a thoughtful, challenging approach to a worn-out concept.

Time Out by Cath Clarke

What’s interesting about Revenge is that it’s told from a female perspective – and by a female filmmaker.

Slant Magazine by Chuck Bowen

Fetishism, parody, and various registers of violence propel a livewire thriller that mines the free-floating hostility existing between genders.

IndieWire by David Ehrlich

Revenge is a bit too thin to sustain its running time (despite its slickness and mesmeric rhythm), but Fargeat’s well-executed finale is worth the wait, particularly for how it cements Lutz as a final girl for the ages. A girl who’s stripped of her humanity, and then finds the strength to return the favor several times over.

The Hollywood Reporter by David Rooney

This is a rape retaliation thriller both tautly controlled and wildly over-the-top, executed with flashy style, sly visual humor and a subversive feminist sensibility.

The Playlist by Eli Fine

Revenge is a hugely satisfying horror movie, a real achievement on the parts of all involved.

The Film Stage by Jared Mobarak

Right when I was ready to resign myself to the thought that Revenge simply started too strong to maintain itself, Fargeat brought me back from the brink with a tense labyrinthine conclusion making use of its locale and blood as plot propulsion.

The A.V. Club by Katie Rife

The film works best if you approach it as a fantasy, with Jen as a near-supernatural angel of vengeance; otherwise, it’s easy to get hung up on the inconsistencies as the action grows increasingly over-the-top.

Consequence of Sound by Michael Roffman

Revenge is one big fuck you to a genre that has treated women like meat — often literally — and she takes back the reigns with incredible muscle. But what makes the movie riveting is how Lutz’s transition from damsel to destructor is filled with all kinds of tumbles.