Lady Snowblood and 3 Other Best Revenge Movies to Watch After Reacher Season 3
Reflections on retribution by Park Chan-wook, Steven R. Monroe and other top directors.
It is no secret that the world is hostile and unfair, so sometimes people take justice into their own hands.
Stories of revenge are sure to captivate viewers as they live out their darkest fantasies, because who has not wanted to give the perpetrator the harshest rebuff?
1. I Saw the Devil, 2010
The plot is based on a seemingly classic story: a serial killer brutally murders a woman, and her fiancé, a secret service agent, sets out to seek revenge.
But while in a regular thriller the final act begins here, in this Korean movie it drags on and on, becoming a torture not only for the villain, but also for the avenger himself.
The main character not only catches the maniac, but turns the revenge into a game of endurance, letting the killer go again and again, only to inflict a new, more sophisticated wound on him.
2. Oldboy, 2003
If revenge is a dish best served cold, then Oh Dae-su's was frozen for 15 years. That's how long the main character spent in prison before he was released, armed with a hammer and vague memories of his own guilt. And then the hunt began.
Koreans have taken the revenge movie genre to a new level. Every revenge in Korean cinema is a road to hell, but the main question is: who will end up at the bottom?
It's not only the sophistication of revenge, but also its inevitability. The main character could have stopped, but he keeps digging until he finds the truth that will destroy him.
3. I Spit on Your Grave, 2010
Steven R. Monroe's film is a remake of the 1978 movie of the same name. The director intended it as a provocative response to the slasher films of the 1970s, in which women traditionally played the role of helpless victims.
By 2010, Monroe's remake was no longer revolutionary, but it did add realism. Jennifer Hills, a young writer, is brutally abused but miraculously survives. But instead of giving in, she decides to give her tormentors their own personal hell on earth.
4. Lady Snowblood, 1973
Japan, late 19th century. A child is born in a prison cell – a girl named Yuki. Her mother Sayo tells her that a year ago her husband and son were killed by four criminals and she was raped.
Sayo managed to kill her kidnapper, but ended up behind bars. There, she seduces the guards to conceive a child and set him on the path of revenge against his tormentors. The mother soon dies, and Yuki finds a purpose in life.
As the title suggests, Lady Snowblood is filled with bloody beauty. Revenge in this movie is not a way to become bitter, but the only true way for a person who has been hurt and suffered.