While Blumhouse has taken many stabs at crafting a noteworthy political/social satire by mixing in their own brand of horror, BJ Novak’s feature directorial debut, Vengeance, is their strongest attempt yet, blending comedy and biting mystery thrills with more personable commentary.
One of the biggest issues of Blumhouse’s previous satirical attempts–mainly The Purge series and The Hunt – is that the horror gimmicks often overshadowed meaningful takeaways. The Purge mainly utilized political story threads to stitch together a shallow narrative through its overarching night of violence. As for The Hunt, well, its troubled release sparked more memorable controversy than most of the film. Where Vengeance strongly differentiates itself, though, is through its more grounded personal story of podcaster Ben (Novak) heading to Texas to investigate the death of a girl he hooked up with.
The way that Novak first introduces Vengeance’s set of distinct personalities and viewpoints instantly sparks some great comedy and even has some familiarity with how he characterizes Ben. Given how Ben is a narcissistic know-it-all from the first second he opens his mouth, there’s no doubt that Novak takes a lot of inspiration from his role as Ryan on The Office, channeling all that insecure energy Ryan was known for. His opening conversation with an unexpected cameo showcases how he generalizes people, seeking to use them for his own gain, and has a condescending view of life. However, these aspects surprisingly add to what’s funny about Ben too. He’s just so ridiculously into his own mindset that you can’t help but laugh at his narcissism and the similarities between Ben and Ryan make it easy to connect with Novak’s performance.
It’s what especially makes Ben going to Texas to meet his former hook-up Abilene’s (Lio Tipton) family so much fun, as they embody the complete opposite kind of mentality: welcoming and comforting to a fault. The film’s comedy is absolutely driven by the culture clashes and “fish out of water” story and it rarely gets old. There are plenty of moments where Ben being completely out of place in this small Texas town leads to some great exchanges and a lot of the Texan characters have great line deliveries and overly positive personalities that you can’t help but love—especially Boyd Holbrook as Abilene’s brother Ty. The film’s never afraid to poke some fun at both types of characters and it’s what creates this very open experience.
More importantly, while the characters might feel like caricatures at first, Novak doesn’t make them feel that way by the end by greatly exploring them through personal conversations. The narrative framing of Ben wanting to create a podcast around the family works in taking the time to get to know everyone and it all builds towards a great emotional character arc for Ben. As he slowly tries to dissect everyone he comes across, his condescending view starts to fade and the way he becomes more personally attached to Abilene’s family is very heartwarming. It’s equally sweet to see the growth he gains from dissecting his own issues, leading him to eventually take a stand rather than just create philosophical talking points that’ll boost his career. By the end, you really feel that Ben has gone through instrumental change and Novak’s performance elevates the emotions and impact of his experience.
What’s great too is that Vengeance features a tantalizing mystery thread that never overtakes the film’s funny bone or character-driven conversations, but instead adds another flavor to the experience. With each new detail and character added to the mystery, there are not only new comedic moments that crop up, but you become much more invested in what’s happening on-screen. It’s really interesting to watch Ben himself become more invested with time and once Ashton Kutcher enters the film as the mysterious Quinten, he’s a total scene-stealer. The twists and turns the mystery takes in the final act feel immensely satisfying and the answers the film provides for Abilene are unexpectedly shocking.
The only place where Vengeance falters is in leaving a lasting mark on with satirical messaging, as it fumbles its messaging in the big final confrontation by overwhelming audiences. Throughout the film, the political views, clashes, and conversations can be digested well mainly because of how personal, relatively grounded, and well-paced they are. However, in the film’s big finale blowout, it throws a lot at viewers to think about and not a lot of it sticks. There’s no doubt that both Novak and Kutcher (who could really reignite his career after his strong showing here) are giving great performances and keep you hooked. But the film throws a lot of views and social perspectives at viewers at once and while it leaves viewers with a lot to think over, it can be too overwhelming to the point where you start to lose viewers before they can even process what’s being said.
Vengeance isn’t exactly the perfect political/social satire that Blumhouse is clearly looking for, but Novak crafts a genre-blending experience full of good laughs, strong thrills, and some thought-provoking storylines that make Vengeance a worthwhile watch.
