A group of female vigilantes teaming up to take down the men who have ruined the lives of countless women across the country? Sounds like an awesome, action packed, thrill ride. If only that were true.
Asking For It starring Kiersey Clemons, Alexandra Shipp, Vanessa Hudgens and Ezra Miller has such promise but unfortunately misses the mark significantly. From strange editing decisions, to sloppy storytelling, Eamon O’Rourke’s directorial debut is nothing short of a disappointment. But it’s not all bad, in fact, there was quite a bit of this movie that I did really enjoy.
The Good
The first 30 minutes or so are phenomenal. The film wastes no time introducing the audience to one of the film’s main antagonists, Mark Vanderhill and the MFM (Men’s First Movement). An extremely jarring and bold introduction to the film I must say. Vanderhill and his cult followers of misogynists make for truly despicable and disgusting villains that have you rooting for their demise from the beginning. We are also introduced to a wonderful cast of very talented actors who portray such fun, badass vigilantes. We have the cool and intimidating Alexandra Shipp as Regina who brings Joey, Kiersey Clemons’ character, into the team. We have the mysterious and extreme Beatrice played by everyone’s favorite Vanessa Hudgens who may be the most entertaining character in the entire film.
Using his background in directing music videos, Director Eamon O’Rourke creates this hyper stylized world for our characters to live in. Bright, vibrant colors, sleek costuming, banging music, and flashy editing really gets the viewer pumped up for the revenge flick the movie promises to be. We also have some really entertaining character interactions, specifically between Joey and her family.
After becoming acquainted with the team, the viewer is then filled in on the mission to take down Vanderhill and his followers once and for all. The stakes are high, the team is ready, and the audience is ready for action. Too bad we never truly reach this hype.
The Bad
From the moment the girls head out on their road trip to take on the MFM the movie takes a sudden dip in quality. Scenes that seem to end before the dialogue has finished, confusing jumps from scene to scene, characters that add little to nothing for the plot, or even just lack luster cinematography.
Some scenes felt chopped down in favor of a shorter runtime but this choice negatively impacts that pacing of the film. For example, we have a scene between Sal and her partner talking over the phone. The scene cuts back and forth between them so quickly it’s hard to follow the tense conversation between them due to the whiplash. As soon as the conversation is over we are left confused as to what the point of this conversation was; why did they call in the first place, why the sudden end of conversation between the two partners, and why the lack of emotion in either characters dialogue? Before we can sit and ask these questions for even a moment, we have already moved on to a completely new scene. This scene and many other scenes after our team of vigilantes take off on their road trip mostly consist of still camera shots cutting back and forth between characters. It’s really disappointing to see considering the scenes prior to the road trip have a lot of energy to them and are enjoyable to watch thanks to some clever editing and cinematography.
We are introduced to more characters that feel like were added in last minute of production just to put more names up on the poster. For example, the introduction of Officer Vernon played by Luke Hemsworth seems to be a haphazardly assembled character made solely to add tension. Or his bumbling fool or a partner who’s jokes feel forced in order to lighten the mood in a film that deals with very explicit and heavy themes and trauma. In a way, it feels like the film was made from two very different ideas on how the film should go. Had the film been maybe 30 to 40 minutes longer to help flesh some of the characters out and to add more context to some of the scenes included in the film I feel like we could have gotten a pretty decent story.
I also have to point out the odd and frustrating choice to have not one, not two, but three cuts to black after a gun is fired in high intensity scenes. I just don’t get this decision at all. It’s not because they don’t want to show characters being killed, we see a few major characters killed off earlier in the movie without the scene cutting to black. And they didn’t use this to add suspense or mystery on whether or not the character was actually killed. In one scene they use this black screen cut right after one of the characters pulls the trigger only to immediately cut to them standing with the gun and their victim still alive, apparently having missed the target on purpose. Why would they use this moment of suspense to immediately reveal that they hadn’t killed their victim? And now that I think about it, they used this tactic only when it came to the vigilantes killing the antagonists of the film. All the “good guys” have their deaths filmed in full. Why don’t we get the satisfaction of watching these despicable characters get their comeuppance?
The film deals with a lot of heavy topics such as sexual assault, rape, and domestic abuse. All very serious topics that unfortunately too many people have to deal with. This film uses these topics as a catalyst for the plot but doesn’t really offer much else in terms of combating these issues or finding help (other than joining a cool all female group of vigilantes). I just wish the film had shown a little more empathy for those who actually experience the horrible acts depicted and described in this film and offer some kind of help or solution for those touched by these events.
Final Consensus
I’m not going to sugar coat it; this movie wasn’t great. It had a lot of promise from the cast, subject matter, and plot and I really think the beginning of this film is truly enjoyable. Unfortunately, Director and Writer O’Rourke seemed a bit in over his head with this one resulting in a very flat film. Maybe you’ll get some enjoyment out of it so check it out in theaters or stream online and support the team who put a lot of hard work into the film.
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse or sexual assault call the National Domestic Abuse Hotline at 800-799-7233 and the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673
Ever since I was young, I had always been fascinated in film and the work that goes into them. I love animation, blockbuster hits, indie films and everything in between. Some day I’ll have the privilege of being apart of the filmmaking process.