The movie deals with the very serious topic of male sex predators and how men might sometimes take advantage of an incapacitated woman. It’s a revenge story of a woman, whose friend killed herself after a humiliating situation. She decides to take matters in her own hands and hunts down men by pretending to be drunk in a club or bar.
The movie is full of uncomfortable situations, where the audience knows that the main character is perfectly sober, but is forced to observe the behaviour of the male predator. Each of the situations involves a guy, who wants to help the “drunk” main character and slowly turns into a creep, who tries to take advantage of her. While I understand the message and truly believe it’s a problem, I feel like the movie tries to shove it down the throat of the audience and prove the same point again and again, without really building up on it or showing other perspectives. The idea of the movie is clear from the beginning to the end and it almost feels like we are given a lesson in social studies by repeatedly using a variation of the same situation.
There are some pacing issues and unfitting stylistic choices, where the movie goes from a cold thriller to a cheesy romantic comedy. Those cheesy moments break the flow and might take you out of the movie, which isn’t great, when your attention has to be focused on the main issue at hand.
The culmination of the movie is quite shocking and unexpected, but achieves the effect it aims for – you will most likely only remember that from the entire movie. It’s a really well done scene and reminded me of the style of arthouse directors like Lars von Trier in its execution. The epilogue however moves away from that tone, back into cheesy territory, which leaves a bit of a sour aftertaste.
I don’t necessarily recommend you to see this movie – it might be disturbing for some of you or annoying for others, considering it’s limited portrayal of men. I think it is still worth a watch for it’s important topic, some good performances from Carey Mulligan, and the artsy culmination scene. Keep in mind – not all guys are creeps!