M.F.A.

This was a good to very good thriller. Francesca Eastwood painted a wonderful portrait of a victim turning to vengeance. The director obviously knew the subject matter well as the plot of the movie came across a entirely possible with the original premise being all to factual, The action keeps moving, It will hold your attention without being to gory or intellectual. Plenty of violence

The rape culture, the crime of rape and societies reaction to the victims and the rapists are a stain on America. This movie draws some needed attention to the priorities of our judicial and higher educational systems with regard to rape, victims of rape and it's perpetrators, I thank the all people who worked on this film for their efforts to bring attention to this very uncomfortable subject. A special vote of appreciation to Natalia Leite who directed this both from the heart and from personal experience.

I see there are a lot of mixed feelings about M.F.A. It will for sure not win any awards but it's still good enough to entertain you on a cold winter night. The story might not be overly developped but it's easy to understand and to watch. Not really a revenge movie, more a vigilante movie of a rape victim taking justice in her own hands. Francesca Eastwood did a good job playing her character. The rest of the cast wasn't bad either, nothing great, but not bad either. I would have made the killing scenes a bit bloodier and more sadistic to make it a better horror movie. I think that would have been better for the movie and this genre of movie. All in all it's an okay movie if you don't have too much expectations.

Noelle (Francesca Eastwood) is studying painting at a Californian college for her MFA. She is invited to a party by hunky classmate Luke. They make out but the sex turns rough. She tries to stop but is overpowered by him. Her neighbor Skye counsels letting it go as she had done with her own rape. Noelle decides to report to the school therapist but her questioning is accusatory. She joins a help group but the girls are ineffectual. She confronts Luke and accidentally kills him. She decides to turn into a vigilante. Police detective Kennedy (Clifton Collins Jr.) investigates.

Clint's daughter Francesca Eastwood is an interesting new actress. She hasn't broken through yet but she has the charisma to get noticed. She has a nice dark side and does damaged well. The writing is a little pedestrian but it generally works. More needs to be given to Clifton Collins Jr. His is the key for tension and drama but he isn't given the needed material. Generally, this is fine but it doesn't really push the envelope.

I read a few reviews before deciding to write this and what I read was they felt this movie was an attack on men in general and that in order to enjoy this movie you had to be a hardcore feminist. Well that's just nuts, as a male I for one liked this film. at one point after I read the reviews I tried to stop watching , I guess I felt that I had to support y gender since that is what they thought. But I just couldn't. There was something that pulled me into it. made me want to watch it all. The reviews that I have read that critic this movie in a negative way are not really critiquing the movie but how they side with the story being told. Saying the movie is bad because its unfair towards men is a weak critic about the movie itself and more of a view into what that person thinks about strong women to begin with. The movie itself is rather slowed paced but always kept me intrigue enough to want to sit and watch it all. Its not my typical type of movie , I am more of an action pact movie guy but every now and then I find myself captivated by a slow paced film such as this.

Maybe if the movie was released during the #metoo movement, it might have done really well at the box office. It does have Clint Eastwoods daughter in the main role and of course it does have the topic of sexual abuse. There is some reality behind it all which may make some people uncomfortable. 1) because of the subject matter and 2) because of how it handles the topic after it (where it descends into the fantastic and unbelievable).

While I don't agree with everything the movie is portraying, the movie itself says that our main protagonist isn't always on the right side (of her mind) either. So if you try to nitpick, there is a lot you can find here. But if you accept this as a thriller and a bit of social message in between, you should be ok. Sit back, relax and do try to take the positive the movie is trying to tell/sell