Violation review – bold reconfiguration of the rape-revenge film

Rape-revenge films are often designed to sell a cathartic experience to the audience; we witness the despicable, unforgivable act early on in the narrative, which in turn gives us the license to be “entertained” as the victim sets out on a bloody, all-consuming, ostensibly satisfying revenge quest against those who wronged them.

Violation, written and directed by Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli, feels positioned as the antithesis of the rape-revenge film – despite having a plot ripped directly from one, it tackles familiar subject matter in an entirely different way. In the process, it never feels like “entertainment,” while any sense of catharsis is replaced with feelings of irresolution – for us and the protagonist.

British couple Miriam (Madeleine Sims-Fewer) and partner Caleb (Obi Abili) are visiting Miriam's sister, Greta (Anna Maguire), who lives a seemingly idyllic life in the Canadian wilderness with her husband Dylan (Jesse LaVercombe). Right from the start things are weird – tensions bubbling beneath the surface, snippy exchanges hinting at unresolved issues from the past. It all comes to a head later when Miriam, struggling with her own relationship, tries to drunkenly kiss Dylan. Quickly the mistake is realised. But then Miriam wakes up to find Dylan on top of her…

The next day, when Dylan tries to blame Miriam and Greta refuses to listen, the sense of betrayal begins to eat Miriam up from the inside. Later, alone in a cabin, Miriam and Dylan come face to face once more. The sense of wrongdoing, though, means she's been left with her own desire to consume Dylan entirely. And so she gets to work in doing just that – though it doesn’t go quite to plan. Until it does, with terrible, visceral consequences.

Sims-Fewer and Mancinelli employ a somewhat confusing (and arguably unnecessary) non-linear approach and slowly leak out the chronology leading up to the pivotal scene in the cabin using a flashback structure. At times it’s hard to know where in the story we are – but one could easily argue this is better to reflect Miriam’s confused state of mind.

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A moment of unexpected male nudity reframes the notion of nakedness in films such as this: women are so often show to be naked in rape-revenge flicks, almost as a given, but the sudden sight of an erect penis here feels like a deliberate act of rewriting the rules. Violation wants to tear down the walls and shatter our preconceived notions, and on those terms it frequently succeeds.

The aftermath of what goes down in the cabin makes for a shocking, messy ordeal – despite the battle that ensues, there really can be no winner. What has happened to Miriam means that she has already lost. And while most films in this vein would allow us to feel good about the act of revenge, Violation understands that there's often no sense of closure, a theme it shares with Jennifer Kent's similarly subversive rape-revenge film The Nightingale.

Frequent use of ominous strings on the soundtrack, close-ups of insects squirming in the undergrowth, and shots of wolves feeding on their pray feel heavy-handed in ways the rest of the film doesn't. And while the emphasis on naturalistic dialogue brings the terrible incident at the centre of the film into clearer focus, there’s the occasional dodgy line reading to jar you out of the experience.

Violation remains a fascinating piece of work nonetheless, upturning a genre which continues to find hidden depths and alternate interpretations. It is not enjoyable as much as it is thought-provoking, a morality play that hides a sense of stark realism beneath the guise of a horror film. It gives no easy answers to the questions it poses. To experience it is uncomfortable, disorienting, and gruelling. But it wouldn’t make sense any other way.

Violation is now available to stream on Shudder.