Retaliation – Shocking Drama
Director: Ludwig Shammasian, Paul Shammasian
Writer: Geoff Thomas (Screenplay)
Starring: Janet Montgomery, Orlando Bloom, Anne Reid, Charlie Creed-Miles, Alex Ferns, Kyle Rees, Josh Myers
Plot: An adult victim of childhood sexual abuse confronts the horrors of his past.
Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Retaliation starts as we meet Malky (Bloom) a demolition man that is haunted by his past, he has an abusive relationship with barmaid Emma (Montgomery), one he can’t commit too. His mother (Reid) is left broken by the acts of violence he seemingly can’t control and the people around him know just how dangerous he can be.
Malky must look to address what he went through if he is ever going to recover from the sexual abuse he suffered as a child, one that he has used to fuel is pain and anger.
Thoughts on Retaliation
Characters & Performances – Malky is a demolition man that has suffered through childhood abuse and has turned to violence to unleash the pain and anger in his life, not being able to build close relationships and snapping in a second. Malky is a man that has been through more than anyone should have and Orlando Bloom gives us one of his best performances of his career in this role. Emma is the barmaid girlfriend of Malky, she is getting tired of the indecision from Malky, not knowing the truth about his suffering. Janet Montgomery does well in her part of the film, giving us a more grounded everyday character. We get to meet the co-workers that know some of the suffering along with Malky’s mother that is always there for him, but is ashamed of what he did.
Story – The story here follows a man that suffered sexual abuse when he was young and never managed to recover from growing up, giving him a violence streak and making it difficult for him to build relationships. This is an eye-opening look at how different people who have suffered sexual abuse will turn to extreme lengths to cope with what happened to them. It shows us that unless someone will talk about it, it will only grow to make things worse for the victim. We don’t get to see what the punishment for the predator would have been, only following the victim’s story, which shows the broken life he is living and one he is trying everything to put back on the right path. It is a hard watch for what is going on and the subject matter, but it does feel important.
Themes – Retaliation is a hard hitting drama that gives us the shocking look at the damage done to an abuse victim. The locations show that Malky is trying to face what happened, with where he finds himself working, trying to find the answers.
Retaliation is a hard hitting drama about the survivor of sexual abuse, where Orlando Bloom is truly disturbingly brilliant.
