'Prevenge' Slashes Taboos, Throats

“Prevenge” is not your average slasher film. Starring Alice Lowe, who is also the film’s writer and director, the British black comedy features a pregnant widow out to kill those who were involved in the accident that claimed her husband’s life. As if this concept weren’t unusual enough, there’s also a twist: Ruth, the protagonist, is being guided in her rampage by her unborn daughter. That’s right, the mastermind behind her killing spree is a surprisingly articulate fetus.

It’s hard to argue with the fetus when the world Ruth lives in is so full of truly awful human beings. At first, one could say that she is simply attempting to make the world a better place for her future child. She kills an absolute creep of a pet store owner, a disgusting dive bar DJ, and a corporate drone who refuses to hire her because she’s pregnant. As the movie continues, however, Ruth’s murders become less justifiable. The fetus, rather than coming across as a force of righteous vengeance, shows itself as a sort of primordial hatred—it even quotes Aeschylus’s “Eumenides” to drive this point home. Ruth and her child disagree at times, but it never lasts long. The fetus always gets its way. As Ruth says, “Children these days are really spoiled.”

“Prevenge” is filled with gems like the line above, making full use of the endless aphorisms around birth and motherhood to play with double meanings. The film is billed as a black comedy, but much of the humor is absurdist, more intended to make the audience uncomfortably reflective.

Still, there are some laugh-out-loud moments. In one scene, Ruth pretends to be going door-to-door for charity in an effort to get inside the home of one of her victims, a woman named Len (Gemma Whelan, better known for her role as Yara on “Game of Thrones”). While she threatens Len, the target protests that she already gives to charity. “What do you think this is, like some kind of new initiative?”

In addition to comedy, “Prevenge” stays true to its slasher roots. There is plenty of gore, from slit throats to bashed-in skulls to, memorably, castration. Most scenes occur at night, with harsh, artificial lighting that emphasizes Ruth’s alienation from everyone around her. All the day scenes are cloudy and oppressively grey. The soundtrack is synth-heavy and reminiscent of Nicolas Winding-Refn’s iconic backing tunes. Overall, the effect of the film’s visual and audio style is to isolate Ruth in her journey, even from the audience. Lowe wants her only partner to be her unborn child.