Envy (2001)

disgusting, overrated, pointless

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

The tale resolves around escalating tit-for-tat retaliations between a mother and a young woman with antisocial tendencies. I bought this for NZ$5 from a bargain bin. As such I was initially pleasantly surprised. A bit of kink, a bit of drama. It is true that there were some plot holes and unconvincing character transitions but it still could have been good fun. Towards the end it presented what I found a quite amusing possible alternative resolution that potentially tied together some of the questions raised quite neatly. The questions I am referring to are, What was the actual core of the boy's trauma, had the mother lost sight of her desire to protect him in seeking revenge, and could the girl ever escape her situation with just $180 of 'life savings' Unfortunately there is apparently a handbook of inescapable clichés out there that escalating revenge dramas can only end with the obvious tragedy that leaves the protagonist looking mournfully into the camera and teaches us that escalating revenge is bad. The ending that was added to restore this cliché is described in the blurb as 'enigmatic' and 'profoundly unsettling after-effect'. I just found it annoying.

This movie was a budget flick to say the least. Camera work presented several interesting shots, but for the most part, it was not top quality at all. The plot was the weakest aspect, the acting was mostly bad or wooden at best, and the script wasn't good either. I felt as though the movie would never end. The fact that the crazed mother wouldn't simply go to the police was ludicrous. It was as if there was a "no way out" thing happening where the family couldn't, but this simply was not the case. The police were already looking for the trio of bad folks so why not call them when the mother found the house they live in. In fact, by the end where I assume the kid was actually killed (er drowned), you would think the police would most definitely have been involved!!! This really made the plot ridiculous and the movie was nearly unwatchable.Stupid. I wasted 82 minutes watching this.

This was a decent watch, but nothing that I would particularly recommend to anyone. Acting performances were generally quite good, and the story certainly off-beat enough to keep one wondering where it would go. For something a little bit different, give it a try---better than the same-old same-old.

***Possible spoilers***I enjoyed this movie despite its uneven story development. The driving event of the film was the son's "molestation", which I found a little tame. It took me a while to figure out that the youngster wasn't in fact in his early twenties. Perhaps a younger-looking actor would have served better. Possibly, the hooligans could have been a little more violent or nasty. Hard to imagine that this rather tame event could have led to the total destruction of the family. The mother's ambivalent motivation was well-depicted, although I think more milage could have been gotten from it. The end of the movie comes very quickly and I was left with lots of questions about exactly what happened and why. For once, a movie that could have been 30 minutes longer. Overall, an entertaining movie, though.