“Do you know what I mean when I say ’rage’?”

Driven by rage, empathy, and something she can’t yet name, Wally (Lesley Smith) secretly patrols the streets at night, taking physical revenge on abusive hipster men on behalf of the survivors who can’t. When law-abiding Lou (Kathleen Dorian) enters her world, love and revenge clash, threatening to infiltrate their relationship.   

With Compulsus, Tara Thorne offers a kind of revenge thriller where she deliberately eliminates men. Feminism or simple frustration?

Enough with violence against women 

At the heart of Compulsus, there’s a form of revolt, a way of saying enough is enough, this violence against women. While it’s interesting to see a revenge film by women, here we get the impression that it’s a big bashing against men…

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not questioning the need to end (as much as possible) violence against women. I’d even say “violence in general.” But here, it looks a lot like all those Hollywood movies where a man massacres a ton of people without any consequences. I wonder if this is a good way to get the message across.

That being said, there’s one thing that piques interest a little more in Compulsus. It’s not about personal revenge. Wally hasn’t suffered any violence herself. She hasn’t been raped like so many others. She hasn’t suffered domestic violence, family harassment, or even violent dates. She’s angry because she simply has the right to be because of the situation. Period. The motivations of a violent man are rarely questioned, and that’s why the director decided to make her film in the same vein.

To portray the “bad” men in the film, the director chose to use only one actor, always dressed the same way, never showing his face. A well-assumed choice that somewhat weakens the message.

Yes, the idea of not showing his face to make him anonymous, as if it could be anyone, is not a bad idea. At the limit, to use only one actor (James MacLean), why not. But always showing him to us exactly the same, with the same attitude and the same clothes weakens the message. Not only do we get the impression that she’s attacking the same guy over and over again, but he looks too much like a big crack-dealing asshole on a street corner. Can the average man identify and say that women can really feel threatened by any man on a street at night? We mostly think that if we were walking alone on a street and a guy like that was walking behind us, we would also tend to speed up.

Too easy 

Wally’s campaign of vengeance also seems far too easy. We can accept her total lack of remorse or questioning about what she’s doing. Few people would be able to attack other humans without ever questioning themselves or feeling – at least a little – guilty. But it can happen. That the woman she falls in love with voluntarily decides to embark on this violent and dangerous adventure is already asking a lot. Let’s just say it starts to decrease in terms of probability.

But what bothers me the most is how easy her “mission” is. Attacking a man who doesn’t expect it and managing to massacre him, I’m willing to believe. But Wally isn’t particularly strong, she doesn’t do martial arts and clearly doesn’t know any other forms of combat. She’s a poet. But against all odds, she manages not only to beat men by surprise, but also to knock one of them out with a single punch.

Furthermore, no one seems to file a complaint or talk to the police. I’m willing to accept that several men wouldn’t do it to avoid appearing weak or to avoid humiliation. But when you see the assailant’s face and vaguely recognize her, when she hits you with a bowling ball or a stapler, it’s hard to swallow that no one would even want to file a complaint.

Then, the thing explodes in the media. Men are attacked in broad daylight. But strangely, the police or journalists never seek to know more, to discover who is attacking these technically innocent men. I say “technically” because, apart from the fact that Wally says they have already assaulted or mistreated one or more women, nothing proves it and, for the media, these are innocent men who have been gratuitously attacked in broad daylight. In Canada…

All this seems far too easy to believe in.

A little more…

Compulsus elevates and centers women in its narrative, and punishes and erases men. This is a just return of the pendulum. But will this film succeed in conveying a message that deserves to be conveyed? I highly doubt it.

On the other hand, this feature film is easy to watch, especially if you are able to abstract from the ease with which Wally carries out her plan. Moreover, the director doesn’t show much violence on screen. A few drops of blood here, a few screams there, but no more. She avoids the trap of creating the gratuitous violence she denounces.

That’s already something. But otherwise, we’ll quickly forget this film.

Trailer