This is why Sarah Daggar-Nickson‘s audacious feature-length directorial debut “A Vigilante” works as something with much more heft; a resonant product of its time and a reimagining of a repulsive subgenre into a harrowing, feminist gut-punch. Featuring a captivating and utterly fearless turn by Olivia Wilde as an abuse survivor who favors a thoroughly refined military self-defense and fighting method known as Krav Maga over guns, she aims to deliver a physically-pummeling reckoning to all spousal abusers in her area. Don’t mistake this for “Kill Bill” or any kind of popcorn escapism, Daggar-Nickson’s raw, sobering work is challenging and poignant. With nothing left to live for, Sadie finds ways to tackle her grief and joins other survivors of domestic abuse in group therapy. It’s at this facility that she realizes she’s not alone, there are plenty of victims just like her, which gives her the idea of learning survivalist training, the aforementioned Krav Maga, to find a way to bring some kind of justice to abused women and children in the area. She won’t kill them, but she’ll instill fear in them and enough anxiety, trauma, into their core to never want to touch a woman again. With anger, anguish in just her eyes, Wilde, de-glammed, and baring no makeup, gives a sparse and minimalist performance which suits the film perfectly. Daggar-Nickson’s feminist approach give the film texture too; she finds the time to showcase the community and cultural impact that a support group can bring by bonding and acknowledging the bruises that linger on in mentally and physically scarred. “A Vigilante” will be released this Friday, March 29th. Contribute Hire me
Advertise Donate Team Contact Privacy Policy
