VIOLATION IS VIVID

Madeline Sims-Fewer in Violation

Deemed as being one of the most disturbing and controversial films this year, Violation was really one of those films you would not dare to miss.  Directors Madeline Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli take this rape-revenge subgenre to a level that many directors could have not imagined or yet fulfill.  Having premiered at Midnight Madness at this year’s limited edition of the Toronto International Film Festival and now following up at this year’s Calgary International Film Festival, Violation is making that buzz around the film circuit.  Whether or not critics or filmgoers like this film or not, it does weave into your emotions like a snake in the grass and make you feel damn uncomfortable which means the directors are doing their job in their interesting non-linear format.

Director Madeline Sims-Fewer plays the main actress and victim Miriam who decides to take a trip with her husband Caleb, played by Obi Abili, to the Quebec Laurentians.  They meet up with Miriam’s estranged sister Greta, played by Anna Maguire, and her husband Dylan, played by Jesse LaVercombe.  The audience begins to learn that both sisters were best of friends and worst of enemies when they were younger and this continues as they are much older.  Going into this trip, Miriam and Caleb are already experiencing technical difficulties while Greta and Dylan are right into each other.  The more the sisters spend time with each other, the more the past comes to reveal itself and how it’s killing the two inside, especially Miriam.

One night by a bonfire, Miriam explains to Dylan about her adverse relationship with her sister and the love loss with her husband.  They go on to have this heart to heart talk where it leads Miriam to ask her sister’s husband if she’s an alright person.  This is of course while Greta is asleep inside the house.  Miriam at this point is asking about her validity and Dylan responds by saying that she is a good person and is not like the ”medium shitty” people of the world.  This then leads to a peck on the lips in which both of them begin to wonder if anyone is going to find out.

Anna Maguie as Greta and Madeline Sims-Fewer as Miriam

We then fast forward to the rape scene where it almost at the crack of dawn and it is raining.  We do hear both Miriam and Dylan engaging in this forced sexual act but what you see are close-up experimental shots of Miriam and the wilderness.   These scenes are powerful because the sound of the two against these shots has a greater effect on the audience’s mind.  It sounds like the two had too much to drink as well which heightens the confidence in Dylan but does not justify his actions.  Rather than showing you what is exactly happening, the shots are a metaphor as to what is going on and what is next to proceed.  Perhaps this rape scene was all in Miriam’s mind and maybe all a dream.   It’s almost as if they are setting you up for the next big sequence which is something the audience doesn’t expect one bit.

The central part of the film is Miriam’s revenge on Dylan where the film becomes quite graphic.  Miriam persuades Dylan to go back to the time where the rape occurred so they can get both turned on and reenact it somehow.  Dylan strips down naked, blindfolded and is tied to a chair where then Miriam seeks justice in her own hands.  From this point on there is absolutely no turning back for Miriam which confuses and angers her at the same time which also gets the audience to question if any type of revenge is worth it.  Nevertheless, this sequence of scenes is so vivid that you are able to feel Miriam’s pain and gratification at the same time which does nothing for her and brings her back to square one which is the confusing part.

The fact that Violation is non-linear, the audience gets to know the reasons for Miriam’ actions at the end of it all.  Even though the film jumps back and forth like a Tarantino film, it just goes to show that Miriam is always going to feel this pain, anger and a big hole in her heart no matter what the circumstances are. Whether or not her sister or her husband tries to validate her the way Dylan tried to which led her to even a darker path, Miriam would still feel that there is something missing in her life which leads her to digging a bigger hole.

Violation is quite the character study of a woman like that of Miriam who is seeking to find meaning and validation in life but comes up empty in whatever she does.  When she holds others accountable rather than herself, it is dangerous especially when you feel you don’t exist.  The intelligence of this film is how such a dark subject can be translated into a story against a backdrop full of life, color and togetherness to one of death, darkness and loneliness seamlessly.