I’m not a fan of filmmaker Abel Ferrara and it’s an uphill battle to get me to recommend a rape/revenge film. Ms .45 ranking so high is impressive, but my agreeing with this and endorsing the film is a minor miracle. I think it starts with the decision to not contain any nudity. This type of film almost always takes a hand in exploiting the female victim for shocks and kinks, and it’s especially egregious when they do it to justify the revenge and describe it as female empowerment. By avoiding nudity – even though this is a grindhouse exploitation film every other way – it’s easy to see the film as being on the side of Thana.
She’s played by Zoë Lund as a mute, another smart decision that gives her no voice against the macro and micro aggressions she endures. The metaphors continue as she kills her first victim with an iron (symbol of a domestic female), then picks up his gun (male phallic symbol) to destroy other men. This doesn’t prevent her mental breakdown, but makes her an unhinged and scary angel of death.
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