Prevenge

We all know that pregnant women are supposed to get strange cravings. Most of the time these are usually nothing more than for the odd toastie in the middle of the night with perhaps a disgusting filling or two. Ruth's cravings, on the other hand, are a good deal darker. Egged on by the voice of her unborn baby girl Ruth gets a craving to kill people and it would seem with justification since all of her victims were, in some way, responsible for the death of her baby's father.

"Prevenge", in case you hadn't guessed it, is a comedy and a very black one. It was written and directed by the multi-talented Alice Lowe who, up until now, was better known as the female half of the team that brought you "Sightseers". She also plays Ruth, and plays her superbly, and her victims are made up of a host of outstanding British character players, including the monstrously underused Kate Dickie. Naturally, this isn't a film that will appeal to everyone, (I think pregnant mothers should stay well clear), but if you have the same very sick sense of humour that I do then seek it out; you certainly won't regret it.

There's some fun to be had here with this dark comedy. A pregnant woman goes on a murdering spree on the people involved in her unborn child's father's climbing death. A movie like this could have been completely unwatchable so I appreciate that they got the tone just right. The child speaks to her from the womb but it never gets completely goofy. The violence she commits is brutal and bloody and it doesn't attempt to trivialize or justify their deaths.

Despite that, there is entertainment to be had as the more she kills the more unhinged she becomes. At times it's an almost playful performance from Alice Lowe who also wrote and directed it. Overall a respectable movie. Nicely shot considering it was done in under 2 weeks.

Isn't Alice Lowe a POWERHOUSE - Go Girl. Writer, Director and lead in this Psychological thriller, with a spattering of black comedy throughout, about a psychopath's love for her unborn psychotic child. Sounds brilliant(?) Well it is... sort of.

This is one of those movies you really do have to stay with. I very nearly turned off about five minutes in. You have a scene where Ruth, Alice Lowe, is in a pet store asking the owner about buying a reptile or spider for her eight-year-old son; the more dangerous the better. I wondered what I'd let myself in for as the banter was banal and atrociously unrealistic. It was when she dispatched the owner that I began to wonder about her motives.

Unfortunately, the banality and atrocious discourse continued and it wasn't until Ruth puts DJ Dann's mother to bed that I began to warm to the film; it's a touching and humorous scene with melancholy overtones. It's her first big venture so some leeway can be given, especially when from that pivotal moment in the movie the direction and acting got so much better.

Lowe does a great job of a being an expectant mother and is pretty good at being creepy and threatening, not something you'd expect of a mum-to- be.

Kayvan Novak is brilliant as Tom the climbing instructor. He's an actor who has a wide range of talents including vocal as he's done a lot of voice-overs. In SunTrap (TV Series) and Cuban Fury he shows he's adapt to comedy, here he shows that seriousness is easily in his wheelhouse too, Hope we see more of him.

As the story progresses the audience is imparted to Ruth's and her unborn's reason for their killing spree.

There is some really outstanding mood setting sequences that either get the audience to think, like the very beginning where she's sat alone in the rain; or to feel uneasy as with Ruth's walk entrance to the Halloween party. Alice Lowe is a Writer, Director, and Actress to watch for in the future.

If the opening sequences were better I would've scored it more. I would recommend this to all lovers of black humour and psychological thrillers. You just have to get through the opening fifteen to twenty minutes - it's well worth the slog. Though if your other half is pregnant... maybe you shouldn't... we don't want her getting any ideas...

Watched this late on a Friday night to kill some time before I could sleep knowing nothing about it other than 'I enjoyed Sightseers' and was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

Alice Lowe has done a fantastic job with this project as it is very well written, well directed and well cast. All the acting is very good and it doesn't come across as being a low budget film, despite only having a modest £100000. The concept (pregnant woman goes on killing spree under the command of her unborn child) sounds very corny, but is actually extremely well done and doesn't come across as cringeworthy at any point. The writing is funny and quite suspenseful and the characters are interesting, realistic and I found myself sympathising with the more likeable ones.

Overall I would recommend watching this film if you enjoy traditional black British humour. You shouldn't be disappointed.

Alice Lowe has a twisted dark sense of humour. And after this, I'm a little bit afraid of her too. And yet, because of this, I find myself strangely drawn to her. What that says about me, I don't know. But I kinda wanna watch everything she's done now.

As an indie film, it's pretty good. But when you know the facts, that it was written by Lowe in three and a half days, directed by her and filmed in just 11 days, and starring in it whilst 8 months pregnant, is a remarkable effort; and I would imagine, quite inspiring for any would-be filmmaker.

Of course, it didn't hurt to include some additional genuine talent in its cast, such as Jo Hartley of This is England fame, Gemma Whelan of Game of Thrones fame, Kayvan Novak (the Fonejacker guy) and the best murder victim character Tom Davis as DJ Dan.

It's all very very British. Which is also why this works as well as it does.

I can't wait to see what Alice Lowe comes up with next when she decides to do her own thing again.