Reversing the male point of view.

Long shot, a helicopter arrives from afar and penetrates the frame, therefore the first shot of the film could already be read as if it were a phallic symbol, after cut to black and the opening credits, directed by Coralie Fargeat, shows the desert photographed in green which, through a backward camera movement (zoom out), can be seen to be the reflection of Richard's Ray-Bans, therefore what is shown is the male point of view and in fact the first third of the film shows, frames the protagonist Jen perpetually in a sexy way. The fellatio scene shows Richard is in a dominant and controlling position.

The three male characters of the film, Richard and his two friends, Stan and Dimitri, get together to go on a hunting trip , another dynamic that typically refers to a male concept as the rifles themselves are an extension of the phallic symbol, all three commit serious acts against Jen and here Fargeat in a bloody and bloody film inserts symbolic elements such as for example the apple which obviously refers to the Bible, Eva picked the fruit and she was blamed as in fact in Revenge it is Jen who is blamed for being too beautiful, a seducer, not staying in her place, so again the point of view male in the first act of the film who seems to have dominion over the situation.

Continuing the narrative the film changes direction, death and resurrection, Jen thrown from the cliff and skewered by the branches with the editing that superimposes the image of the bonfire of Jen's clothes create the effect of a fire, therefore as if the protagonist were a witch to be burned for the three male characters, the overlapping image of the flames and Jen pierced by the branches of the trunk which seem to catch fire is notable.
The blood drips on the desert sand with an ant in the foreground, the blood is life, the trunk, the tree is also a symbol of lifeblood par excellence, so yes Jen is alive if not even resurrected.

From prey to predator, the style of the film changes, the hunt is on, Richard, Stan and Dimitri want to kill Jen but the latter is a survivor who will also start preying the three who want to eliminate her.
Jen has her belly pierced, in an excellent sequence she brands the beer can which has an eagle as its logo, therefore both freedom but also the mark of now being a predator.
The camera rotation and the shots that Fargaet constructs on Jen are dominant while instead Richard and his friends begin to feel more lost and disoriented and in fact they are framed with medium-long shots in the desert and therefore dominated by the environment surrounding.

The dynamics of the hunt, the assaults and counter-assaults, the clashes are well managed and well directed, there is tension and there is a lot of violence shown and a lot of blood.

The third act is a continuous crescendo, we arrive at the showdown between Jen and Richard where Fargeat plays with the stylistic features of the genre, subverting them.
Richard's long shot who returns to the villa, still in the middle of the desert, goes to take a shower and tries to understand if Jen could be nearby is excellent both on a technical and theoretical level.
In slashers we are used to seeing the female character , the girl in the shower who is attacked by the killer, in Revenge it is Richard who has his back turned while taking a shower, it is he who is framed in the sequence shot, it is he who is targeted, at risk of being attacked by Jen, therefore both the dynamics of gender but also of control are subverted.
 

Jen participates in the hunt, uses the rifle and kills.

Fargeat therefore creates tension , feeds it through long shots and editing, the climax of the third act is remarkable and becomes a real bloodbath.
The times are managed very well, there is catharsis, the tension is perennial, and the The direction alternates the sequence shot with the editing, the exchange of close-ups to fuel the tension.

In the scenario, the bodies of the two will be smeared with blood for a bloody outcome.

The ending recalls the beginning of the film but in the opposite sense, if in the incipit the helicopter penetrated the frame and from the desert, via zoom out, we arrived at the glasses, therefore at Richard's gaze; in the end Jen is standing in a medium-long shot by the pool and we hear the arrival of the helicopter, which this time does not penetrate the frame and is not framed, cut to editing, Jen turns and through camera movements to get closer, zoom in, you go into her gaze.

The male point of view is therefore overturned because in the end it is Jen's gaze that remains.

Revenge is a direct film very well, Fargeat is at ease in managing and showing violence but also in creating strong shots and well-constructed images, the staging is excellent, with photography in often bright colors which even in the second act, the hunt in the desert, creates suggestive shots through medium-long shots and also the use of the color red. Noteworthy, for example, is the long shot where in the foreground there is the handlebar of the motorbike illuminated in red while Jen enters the darkness, as she is preparing to enter a cave.
 

First feature film for Fargeat which makes a great debut, a film that is certainly critical against a certain machismo managed in an optimal way where the director shows a very good technical department. mastery of the cinematographic medium and love for the genre which he also manages to subvert.

A lot of blood, a lot of violence shown, cuts on the eyes, very deep wounds and blood flowing like a river to carry on the tradition of the New French Extremity of 2000s.