RANDOM ACTS OF VIOLENCE: A Bloody & Nightmarish Road Trip You Don’t Wanna Miss

The discussion of whether violent depictions in pop culture inspires real-life crime has been an on-going debate for so many years. Some believe that artists are entirely responsible for what they put in their art, while others believe otherwise. The latest to jump in on the discourse is Jay Baruchel with his sophomore directorial effort, a fun and bloody slasher called Random Acts of Violence. Baruchel seems to suggest that the answer to the question above isn’t that simple, and that there are a number of layers to how art should be perceived both by the audience and the artist themselves. While this does allow the movie to have a little more depth, the vagueness in Baruchel and Jesse Chabot‘s script, unfortunately, prevents it to be more than the other average slashers. Still, despite all of that, Random Acts of Violence has plenty of fun that’s enough to make it unmissable.

The Consequences of Life Imitating Art

The story, adapted from Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti‘s one-shot graphic novel of the same name, focuses on Todd (Jesse Williams), an artist and writer currently struggling to come up with an idea to finish the final chapter of his nation-wide sensation comic book “Slasherman.” In an attempt to overcome his writer’s block and get some new inspiration, Todd decides to go on a road trip from Toronto to the town where the real-life murders which his comic-book is based on took place years ago. And joining him is his buddy and publisher Ezra (Baruchel), assistant Aurora (Niamh Wilson), and wife Kathy (Jordana Brewster), who herself is doing some research for a book about the real slasherman from the victims’ perspectives.

Along their journey to the New York Comic-Con, bad things start to happen quickly. First, they almost get hit by another car. Then in a radio interview, Todd gets chastised for the horrific details of violence against women depicted in his comic by the host, who happens to be the friend of one of the slasherman’s victims. And to make things even worse, not to mention bloodier, there have been brutal killings that mimic the exact same way all the murders of Todd’s comic-book.

This, of course, begins to create paranoia within the four. Todd starts to question whether he’s, to some degree, responsible for these tragedies or not. Kathy, on the other hand, blames Todd without thinking twice, while Aurora and Ezra fear that something horrible will happen to them on the trip, which is not wrong. Horrible things do indeed happen to Todd and his friends. But the main appeal of the movie actually doesn’t rest on that, instead, it’s anchored on all the debates that happen between Todd and Kathy.

Through all the arguments that Kathy throws toward Todd, Baruchel and Chabot suggest that artists do have some responsibilities for all the things they put in their arts, at least to some extent. But on the other side, the movie also seems to argue that shifting the blame on media and pop culture entirely from the roots of real-life misogyny itself, which comes from educational, economical, and systemic issues, is also wrong.

When Baruchel and Chabot present these two points at the beginning, it seems like Random Acts of Violence will be the first slasher that finally knows how to tackle the same issues that its predecessors have been attempting to address previously to no avail. And for a while, the movie does seem like it really knows how to capture the depth of this topic. But sadly, the script gets murkier along the way as it’s too busy focusing more on its depiction of Todd’s childhood trauma that quite frankly adds nothing interesting to the narrative. If only Baruchel and Chabot had delved deeper into the subjects of the consequences of media violence that the movie explores in the first place, there’s no doubt that Random Acts of Violence would’ve been twice better and more compelling.

A Well-Executed Slasher

While the philosophical question at the center of the movie isn’t really answered thoroughly, the slasher elements luckily are executed in an engaging way from start to finish. All the killings are never sensationalized or framed merely as an entertainment value as is often case with other slasher movies. Instead, they’re all depicted to put an emphasis on the discomfort and the tragedy that the victims are facing, which ultimately makes the movie leaner and all the more unsettling.

Baruchel‘s skill as a director is also highlighted in detail here. He brilliantly demonstrates his flair for visual style, drenching the movie with red and green neon lighting while creating a suspenseful atmosphere that only gets even more uncomfortable toward the end. The score from Andrew Gordon Macpherson and Wade MacNeil puts more uneasiness too, with the production and make-up department doing an equally great job as well at making the murders look authentic.

And to top things off, the onscreen talents are all putting on solid performances too. As Todd, Williams‘ ability to show the conflicted feelings that his character is having inside is always on-point. He brings a great level of complexity to Todd without overdoing it. Wilson and Baruchel, who’s always been an acting force in every movie he’s in, also have some memorable moments. But it is Brewster who stands out among the other cast, fleshing out the frustration and anxiety that Kathy is having in a way that always feels genuine.

Conclusion

Random Acts of Violence may be far from perfect, in the end, especially considering its reluctance to dive deeper into the subject of media violence it wants to tackle at the beginning. But as a slasher movie from a novice director, it ticks all the boxes of what makes the genre so widely beloved by a lot of people. It’s a fun and violent road trip you don’t wanna miss this summer.

Have you seen the movie? What do you think of it? Let us know in the comments below!

Random Acts of Violence will be available to stream on Shudder on August 20, 2020.

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