Retribution Review – A Welcome Breath of Fresh Air into the Tired Vigilante Genre
David Gelmini
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Starring Adam Moylan, Nicholas Vince, Nigel Mercier
Directed by Paddy Murphy
Heavily inspired by Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, the neon-infused short film Retribution takes the theme of vigilantism to another level, with a murderous biker delivering his own brutal brand of justice throughout the streets of Ireland.
The biker, who is played by Adam Moylan, quotes scripture during every single one of his killings, which technically makes him a terrorist (someone who uses violence to achieve a religious or political goal). I’ve never been a fan of religion in general, so seeing the Bible being used as justification to bludgeon a man to death with a toaster will probably resonate strongly with those of us who are reasonable enough to understand that an ancient book of myths should not be used to dictate how we live our lives.
If you were disappointed by the fact that Frank Castle doesn’t kill anyone throughout most of the episodes of Netflix’s “Punisher” series, you’ll probably be impressed at how much of a body count Retribution was able to squeeze into its runtime of just under thirteen minutes. This is vigilantism at its most extreme.
Things get even more interesting when Hellraiser’s Nicholas Vince shows up as a Catholic priest with his own internal demons, which he couldn’t keep under control. And while it was a little predictable that they went down the usual ‘dirty priest who couldn’t keep it in his pants route’, Retribution was a welcome breath of fresh air into the tired vigilante genre. Writer and director Paddy Murphy is clearly one to watch on the indie horror scene.
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Summary
Retribution is a welcome breath of fresh air into the tired vigilante genre. Keep your eyes on director Paddy Murphy.
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