Prevenge   Starring: Alice Lowe, Gemma Whelan, Kate Dickie and Jo Hartley Distributor: Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment RRP: £TBC KAL8599 Certificate: 15 Release Date: 05 June 2017

Ruth doesn’t go in for shopping. She’s on a killing spree instead. It is all the more bizarre when it’s discovered Ruth is pregnant and near the end of her term. The murders are both shocking and humorous in their execution. Furthermore, it is her unborn child who directs Ruth’s purpose. She hears its voice prompting her and offering her constant motivation for her acts. However, the deaths at her hands are far from random. Her husband and love of her life has recently died in a climbing accident. But was it an accident? It seems the others on the climbing expedition agreed to cut the rope holding him, to save their own lives...

Prevenge is a British black comedy from first time director Alice Lowe, who also wrote the script and played the main protagonist, Ruth. As if that didn’t keep her busy enough, Alice really was pregnant and could have gone into  labour at any time. Talking of labour, this proves if nothing else, that she looked upon this project as a labour of love. Because the dialogue is played straight it steers the film into a fly-on-the-wall documentary style; but then this is contrasted by the ridiculousness of the situations. The idea here is that the viewer should experience the ever-changing and conflicting emotions of Ruth, only to smile at the withdrawn and rather blasé manner in which she engages her victims in conversation before calmly dispatching them as if it’s the most logical action in the world. Some of the deaths are amusing, but the funniest scene is when Ruth knocks on the door to a house, posing as a charity worker, and the householder tries to get rid of her, incorporating some made-up self-defence moves when Ruth tries to kill her.

Unnerving is the word best used to describe this film, as it portrays events which could realistically happen. In essence, Ruth’s best alibi is the fact that she’s heavily pregnant, and so not really seen as a threat. It’s a very well-constructed film which is both original and compelling. It has already made its impact at the London, Venice and Toronto Film Festivals, and garnered some complementary reactions from the press.

Extras consist of a commentary by Alice Lowe, Cinematographer Ryan Eddleston, Editor Matteo Bini and Producer Vaughan Sivell; and a behind the scenes featurette called Post Natal Confessions.

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Ty Power