Official Trailer
Rating: 5.1/10 | Genre: Drama, Thriller | Runtime: 99 min
Starring: Kara Young, Mallori Johnson, Vivica A. Fox, Sterling K. Brown, Janelle Monáe
I went into this one with cautious optimism. The cast is solid, the premise sounds intense, and I’m always down for a revenge story. But man, this movie really didn’t land for me. It’s got some genuinely good moments buried in there, but they’re surrounded by a lot of muddled storytelling and uneven pacing that made the 99 minutes feel way longer than they should have.
The basic setup is this: two sisters are on a mission to track down and confront the people responsible for their family’s trauma. Kara Young and Mallori Johnson carry the weight of this story, and they’re both trying hard to make it work. Young especially brings a raw intensity to her scenes. But the script doesn’t give them much to work with. The dialogue feels forced a lot of the time, and character motivations aren’t always clear. Why do they make certain choices? Sometimes I got it, sometimes I was just confused.
Sterling K. Brown shows up in what feels like a smaller role than expected, and his scenes are probably the most interesting parts of the movie. He’s got this unsettling energy that actually makes you feel something. Janelle Monáe is in here too, though her appearance is brief. Vivica A. Fox rounds out the cast, but honestly, none of them have enough screen time to really dig into their characters.
The first half of the movie moves slowly. Too slowly. I get that you need time to build tension and develop the sisters’ backstory, but there are long stretches where nothing happens and I found myself checking my phone. The second half picks up a bit, but by then I’d kind of already checked out emotionally.
What does work is the atmosphere. The cinematography is moody and dark, and there are some genuinely tense moments, especially toward the end. There’s a scene in the third act that actually caught me off guard. But these good moments can’t carry the whole movie when the foundation feels shaky.
The biggest issue is that the movie is trying to tackle some heavy stuff about family trauma and generational pain, but it doesn’t dig deep enough into any of it. Everything feels surface level. The revenge plot also gets convoluted in ways that make you question the logic of what the sisters are doing.
Look, if you’re really into revenge thrillers and you’ve got nothing else to watch, you could do worse. Just don’t go in expecting something special. This is a 5.1 rating for a reason. It’s not terrible enough to be memorable, but it’s not good enough to justify the runtime. Have you seen any other recent revenge dramas that actually stuck the landing? I’m wondering if this genre is just harder to pull off than it used to be.
Where to Watch
Rent on: Amazon Video