UNITED STATES
WCBE (radio)
August 15, 2020
By John DeSando
A knockout performance and tragic story make for seriously entertaining cinema.
Retaliation. Grade: A-. Director: Ludwig Shammasian (The Pyramid Texts), Paul Shammasian (The Pyramid Texts). Screenplay: Geoff Thompson
Cast: Orlando Bloom (The Outpost), Janet Montgomery (Black Swan)
“Be not carried away to revenge and retaliation (Romans, 12,V 19) by evil which is committed against you, but overcome the evil by the good which you show to your enemy (V20), put to shame by your noble spirit, ceases to act malignantly against you . . . .” Paul
Retaliation, starring a surprisingly brilliant Orlando Bloom as Malky, is about a demolition worker trying to demolish the memory of abuse by a priest when Malky was 12. The plot is simple, a thriller at the least, encouraging the audience to guess whether he will exorcise his demon or take Christ’s advice (see above).
The film focuses almost exclusively on Malky, whose growing torture about the abuse bleeds out into everything he encounters, be it his Mum (Anne Reed), his best friend, Jo (Alex Ferns), or, most lamentably, girlfriend Emma (Janet Montgomery). His rage is palpable, and because he shares its reason with no one, it is quietly volcanic.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.