Asking For It Review: Feminist Vigilante Thriller Is Style Over Substance
Asking For It joins a growing subsection of the revenge thriller genre that opts for style over substance. The film, written and directed by Eamon O'Rourke, fashions itself like Sam Levinson's Assassination Nation, where the film's central themes are grounded in our current reality but presented in a highly-stylized and improbable manner.
Kiersey Clemons plays Joey, a waitress who is sexually assaulted by someone she knows. Noticing a change in Joey’s behavior is frequent diner guest Regina (Alexandra Shipp), who introduces Joey to the vigilante group of badass women — the Cherry Bombers. The group includes Beatrice (Vanessa Hudgens), Lily (Leslie Stratton) and their leader Sal (Radha Mitchell). The gang is focused on taking down alt-right white supremacist Mark Vanderhill, who is whipping up a frenzy of highly volatile men who believe in the domination of women. Unfortunately, this is one aspect of the film that doesn’t require imagination as it is ripped straight from real life.
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O'Rourke makes a clear delineation between what's a feminist and what is a man-hater. And while there is not a ton of love to be found for men with the Cherry Bombers, they don’t solely exist to trample the opposite sex. However, Asking For It works only with extremes, undercutting the Cherry Bombers by painting them as survivors of sexual violence and nothing more. There is little to no development of who they are as people. Rather, their traumas take center stage. The rape-revenge genre is a highly contentious one, filled with a variety of films that speak to certain groups of people. There is a slight trend toward the more eye-catching and upbeat variety. These films up the stylization
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