A battered woman lies chained to a dingy bed in a decrepit cellar. Her captor, a belligerent, babbling man, enters the frame as we see glimpses of the woman struggling to grasp a concealed brick. Once he is within reach, she grabs the brick and proceeds to bash the man over his head and escape. After a futile attempt at running to potential but indeterminate safety through the woods, the woman returns to her former prison. She rifles through the man’s belongings until she comes across a series of photos. Each photo depicts a young woman in a state of panic with only a first name written on them to identify them. This discovery propels the rest of the film in motion, as our victim-cum-hero turns the tables on her captor and attempts to free the remaining women.
It only takes about ten minutes to know exactly what is going to be in store with IFC Midnight’s Bound to Vengeance. As the first English language film by the up-and-coming Mexican director José Manuel Cravioto, it is unfortunate that Bound to Vengeance, despite an earnest attempt, demonstrates all of the pitfalls of exploitation cinema. It is not confirmed that Cravioto used it a source of inspiration, but it is hard to not view the film in light of the Cleveland abductions at the hands of Ariel Castro. Cravioto does his best to avoid the egregious tropes of the revenge film, but they nonetheless creep up. Progressive political messages are clumsily delivered in dialogue but are then undermined by the inclusion of numerous negative and demeaning female stereotypes. What is rather ingenious about the film, however, is rather than revel in the abuse and rape of our main character, Eve (Tina Ivlev), the actions are only alluded to. Choosing to start the film at the point of Eve’s escape and revenge somewhat diverts the general voyeuristic criticism of “rape-revenge” or revenge thrillers.
Despite his beautiful visual prowess, Cravioto is left with the futile task of trying to piece together an insipid and clichéd script by Rock Shaink Jr. and Keith Kjornes. Rather than create strong, identifiable characters the film relies on a mélange of twists that do little more than thrust the narrative forward. While never short on action, it becomes grating and ineffective over the film’s short run time. It becomes a waiting game, where viewers anticipate when the next twist will be revealed (leading up to a bizarre and poorly executed denouement). It is because of this, that it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the original title of the film was Reversal. Perhaps the producers found this a little too on the nose and went with the sexier sounding Bound to Vengeance. If nothing else, Bound to Vengeance is a launching point for Cravioto who does display a significant amount of talent and it will be interesting to see where his career goes next.
