Acts of violence: When reality joins fiction ***

Todd (Jesse Williams) is an author of comic strip which is inspired by a serial killer who has been six victims, between 1987 and 1991, before disappearing in the nature.

July 30, 2020

Updated on July 31, 2020 at 4h02

Acts of violence: When reality joins fiction ***

Eric Moreault

The Sun

CRITICAL / It sometimes happens that a director is to serve as a film genre, to propose a reflection. More rare still, without neglecting the aspect film and without being pretentious. This is the case ofActs of violence (Random Acts of Violence), which presents an interesting perspective on the inspiration, and the responsibility of artists.

The debate has been raging for several years : up to what point a work as “violent” can she push a deranged mind to commit the irreparable for the effect of imitation ? Jay Baruchel does not pretend to answer it. But he digs the question.

His film, an adaptation of the comic by Justin Grey and Jimmy Palmiotti of the same name, follows the trials and tribulations of Todd (Jesse Williams) and his guard charged. The author of the comic strip suffers from the syndrome of the white page to the conclusion of its volumes Slasherman. This is based on a serial killer who has been six victims, between 1987 and 1991, before disappearing in the nature.

Todd decides to start a road-trip to find the inspiration in the company of his wife Kathy (Jordana Brewster), his assistant Aurora (Niamh Wilson) and his best friend and editor, Ezra (Baruchel).

Kathy accompanies it, especially to collect the testimonies of relatives of victims of the mysterious murderer, who left his prey in grotesque and bloody sculptures. She accuses Todd of glorify acts of violence without worrying about those who suffer from it — a source of tension in the relationship, we are in doubt.

Things will get tougher as they progress to New York. After you have passed the hometown of Todd, which triggers in her head, strange flashbacks, a killer scatters dead bodies in productions which bear a striking resemblance to those of the boards of Slasherman — a form of fetishism…

Actes de violence: Quand la réalité rejoint la fiction ***

Todd decides to start a road-trip to find the inspiration in the company of his wife Kathy (Jordana Brewster), his best friend and editor, Ezra (Baruchel), and his assistant Aurora (Niamh Wilson).

Entract Movies

Baruchel meets the letter of the codes of the slasher, with a psychopath who eliminates systematically the members of a group. The interest lies especially in the way he does it, both on the level of achievement, creative in the use of colors and strobe effects, as the reflection that it attempts to elicit what it shows us.

Yes, some of the images are violent, gore even. But this representation of violence seeks to engage the viewer on what he is asking of the genre and what the creators are willing to offer him (a game of supply and demand twisted when you think about it). As a corollary, is that art justifies everything ?

Todd is going to learn the hard way that tap into the reality to transform it into fiction is sometimes made at his own risk (a statement of the obvious that it can also apply to an author who is inspired by his family to write a novel, a play or a movie…).

The Canadian Jay Baruchel away here of the two Goon, the Montrealer of adoption was scripted. But it shows that with a lot of creativity, you can revisit a genre worn out with happiness. Acts of violence should normally appeal as much to fans of slasher that moviegoers adventurous.