Brutal ‘The Woman’ Shocks With Bloody Satire

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Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – When Lucky McKee’s “The Woman” played at Sundance earlier this year it caused quite a stir, mostly thanks to the reports of an altercation that happened shortly after the screening in which someone questioned how something so extreme even got to Park City. While some midnight screenings at the fest have pushed boundaries before (“Saw,” “Haute Tension”), there is something so brutally in your face about the repulsive acts on display that it’s easy to see why buttons were pushed. This is daring, dark material that approaches satire in its exploration of the hideous underbelly of America. It’s “American Beauty” meets “Hostel”…and I mean that as a compliment.

Co-written and conceived by the legendary author Jack Ketchum (“The Girl Next Door”), “The Woman” is about a seemingly normal family. There’s a patriarch named Chris (Sean Bridgers), who has that sleazy used-car salesman vibe that would make anyone uncomfortable. There’s a matriarch named Belle (McKee regular Angela Bettis), a woman who seems constantly startled, as most abuse victims do. And there are two teenage children, Peg (Lauren Ashley Carter) and Brian (Zach Ran), along with a still-innocent young one (Shyla Molhusen).

The Woman
Photo credit: Bloody Disgusting

While Chris is hunting in the woods he stumbles upon a feral, filthy, half-naked woman (Pollyanna McIntosh) who he shoots, brings home, and chains up in a shed in his backyard. As if this is completely normal, expected behavior, the family goes along with dear old dad’s plan, even after the woman bites off one of his fingers and eats it. The idea seems to be that the family is planning to domesticate and “save” this nature girl (although their actual motivations are too thinly-defined) but things naturally go haywire very quickly. Before long, dad is raping the woman and their only son is mutilating her naked body with pliers. And I won’t even begin to explain what happens to a sweet teacher who dares to investigate why Peg has become so withdrawn at school.

The question one has to ask when assessing “The Woman” is a simple one – is this misogyny or an examination of misogyny? Watching all of the female characters be brutalized in various ways by a horrendous human being (and the offspring he’s training in his footsteps) can be hard to take, especially for female viewers. Of course, the tables are eventually turned on this monster, but is it too little too late? I don’t believe so. I think McKee & Ketchum are tapping into something ABOUT misogyny in a daring, dark, in-your-face manner more than being misogynistic through their writing.

And that’s not their only subject. There’s a fascinating vein of white male righteousness being dissected here as well. My favorite exchange is one in which Chris asks a woman if she thinks he would dare risk going to Heaven before punching her in the face and doing something jaw-dropping to her. Chris still thinks he’s righteous. Like so many scumbags in the world, he’s convinced he’s done nothing wrong. To me, that’s the most interesting element of “The Woman” and one I wish was explored more.

The Woman
Photo credit: Bloody Disgusting

A bit too much of the first two-thirds of “The Woman” feels like passing time to get to the insane, climactic final act, an orgy of gore that will blow even hardcore horror junkies away. It does sag a bit, especially in the set-up, and some of the music choices are too intentionally bizarre. However, the final twenty minutes are so disturbingly mesmerizing that one is unlikely to remember any flaws of what even transpired before them.

Bridgers is good in the central role but I think he’s sometimes a bit too obvious in his derangement. I think there’s a stronger version of “The Woman” in which Chris isn’t so obviously a prick, one in which he is more of an average guy with a very dark home life. As for other performances, Bettis is always solid but it’s McIntosh and her searing eyes that you’ll take away from the movie. She gives a striking physical performance that completely works, committing herself 100% to this very unusual role. She might be the most memorable title character of the year.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com