New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu


?>

 

FILM REVIEW: Prevenge


By Eric Hillis, TheMovieWaffler.com

originally published: 03/27/2017


Babies have long played a role in horror cinema, from the suspect infant growing inside Mia Farrow’s tummy in Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby to the killer rugrats of Larry Cohen’s It’s Alive franchise. In British actress/writer Alice Lowe’s directorial debut, Prevenge (don’t ask me for that title’s correct pronunciation), the nasty nipper hasn’t even left the comfort of the womb, and it’s already causing mayhem.

Taking the lead role herself, Lowe is Ruth, a heavily pregnant single mother (Lowe was herself seven months pregnant at time of filming) who embarks on a series of executions of what at first appears to be a random collection of strangers. Ruth is simply following orders however, those of her unborn daughter, who in a voice that sounds like an even creepier Teletubby, instructs her to commit homicide.

Ruth’s first two victims - an exotic pet store owner who asks Ruth if she would like to ‘touch his big snake’, and a boorish pub DJ who lives with his geriatric mother - suggest she’s on some sort of feminist quest to rid Britain of misogynist man-children. The film is most effective in these early sequences, as the unpleasantness of the men she massacres allows us to empathize with her actions, if not condone them. They also represent the film’s funniest segments, thanks to the hilariously uncomfortable interactions between Lowe and actors Dan Renton Skinner and Tom Davis as the obnoxious targets of her rage.

When Ruth goes after her third victim - a businesswoman played by Kate Dickie, whose only perceived ‘crime’ seems to be her prioritizing of her career - Prevenge undergoes a drastic tonal shift that it never quite recovers from. It becomes apparent that Ruth’s victims share a specific connection - their names are on a hit-list she keeps in a journal filled of gruesome sketches, like the schoolbook of a teenage goth - and the ‘P’ in the film’s title becomes silent. As people who seem like perfectly decent citizens fall victim to Ruth’s blade, we lose whatever empathy we might have originally had for her. The interactions between Ruth and her targets no longer play out as black comedy as the film shifts into a more straightforward horror movie, into a gear Lowe is nowhere near as comfortable in.

While it opens in inspired fashion with some wicked dark humor, Prevenge progressively becomes a standard indie slasher, the sort of movie that are a dime a dozen at horror festivals, relying on the hook of a novel antagonist and a retro synth score to appease hungry genre fans. Lowe proves herself a comic talent here, but a gift for horror seems more elusive. 





Follow New Jersey Stage on social media
Facebook, Threads, Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky



Prevenge

3  stars out of 5

Directed by: Alice Lowe

Starring:     Alice Lowe, Kate Dickie, Kayvan Novak, Jo Hartley, Gemma Whelan, Tom Davis



Eric Hillis is a film critic living in Sligo, Ireland who runs the website TheMovieWaffler.com



Follow New Jersey Stage on social media
Facebook, Threads, Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky


FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


The

The Mitchells vs. the Machines – Popcorn & Pajamas Film Series

Friday, June 27, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Hamilton Stage at Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC)
360 Hamilton Avenue, Rahway, NJ 07065
category: film


 

FREE

FREE SUMMER MOVIE: Despicable Me 4

Tuesday, July 01, 2025 @ 7:00pm
State Theatre New Jersey
15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: film


 

FREE

FREE SUMMER MOVIE: Despicable Me 4

Tuesday, July 01, 2025 @ 10:30am
State Theatre New Jersey
15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: film


 

FREE

FREE SUMMER MOVIE: Despicable Me 4

Tuesday, July 01, 2025 @ 7:00pm
State Theatre New Jersey
15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: film


 

FREE

FREE SUMMER MOVIE: Despicable Me 4

Tuesday, July 01, 2025 @ 10:30am
State Theatre New Jersey
15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: film


 



Advertise with NJ Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info





 

EVENT PREVIEWS

"The

"The Ladder" to Have East Coast Premiere at Golden Door International Film Festival on Saturday

(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- Fresh off multiple festival wins across the country, the critically acclaimed, Alaskan sci-fi drama The Ladder will have its East Coast premiere this Saturday, June 28, 2025 at the Golden Door International Film Festival in Jersey City. Writer-director Emilio Miguel Torres in attendance.



Count

Count Basie Center for the Arts presents An Evening With Francis Ford Coppola and screening of "Megalopolis"

(RED BANK, NJ) -- Legendary director, Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders) is bringing his monumental 2024 film, Megalopolis, to select cities across the country. The tour kicks off at the Count Basie Center for the Arts on Sunday, July 20, 2025 at 7:00pm.



Yogi

Yogi Berra Museum to Screen "Legends Remembered Live: A Tribute to Yogi Berra"

(LITTLE FALLS, NJ) -- /PRNewswire/ -- The Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center in Little Falls will host a special tribute event, Legends Remembered Live: A Tribute to Yogi Berra, on Sunday, June 29, 2025 at 2:00pm, honoring the life, legacy, and faith of one of baseball's most beloved figures.



The

The Williams Center to Screen "Wayward Kin" by David Joseph Volino

(RUTHERFORD, NJ) -- After a four-year-long production process, filmmaker and New Jersey native, David Joseph Volino, is sharing the full-length feature, Wayward Kin, with local audiences. See the film for one night only at The Williams Center in Rutherford on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. The screening begins at 7:00pm with the cast and crew in attendance.



The

The ShowRoom presents ENCORE: Rock Cinema Returns! A Summer Series of Legendary Sound and Vision

(ASBURY PARK, NJ) -- The ShowRoom Cinema is turning up the volume this summer with ENCORE: Rock Cinema Returns!, a series of must-see music films that combine incredible sound with captivating visuals. Screenings include The Who's Tommy; Pink Floyd: The Wall; Ladies & Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains; and Streets of Fire.