Review by CJ

Director:
Tyler Shields

Starring:
Abigail Breslin, Wes Bentley, Alexander Ludwig, Cameron Bright, Logan Huffman, Reece Thompson

Other notable appearances:
Francesca Eastwood

Running time:
90 minutes

Watch this if you liked:
Dolan’s Cadillac, Sin City

A group of four men lure blonde women into the woods and murder them. That is until they come up against their latest intended victim Veronica (Breslin), a trained assassin sent to finish their game once and for all.

I love the idea behind Final Girl. The idea that four homicidal psychopaths mess with the wrong girl and suffer for it greatly.  The execution was good, though not great, and resulted in an enjoyable film.

I likened Final Girl to Dolan’s Cadillac, not because they both feature the talents of Wes Bentley, but because Final Girl could almost be a direct sequel to Dolan’s Cadillac. Not only would the plot flow almost perfectly, the films both look and feel very similar. They’re gritty, a little bit low budget looking in an artistic way and have the same sort of acting style.

The acting isn’t what I would call cheesy or bad, but it does seem uncomfortable and stiff at times. Whether this is an attempt to make the characters seem cold and unfeeling, I don’t know, but it just seemed to make everything seem awkward.

In saying that, there were some brilliant moments between Breslin’s assassin and her trainer/handler played by Bentley. While they mostly maintain a professional facade, they occasionally slip and, having known each other for 12 years or since Veronica was ~5,  the moments can be quite touching and sad.

The characters in Final Girl are great. We catch glimpses of backstory that are just enough to be interesting but not enough to bog the story down. I would have liked there to be more on how the foursome started their serial killings and why they do it. As great as the characters are, there’s very little in terms of actual development. Except that some of them develop a habit for not living.

Overall, I found Final Girl to be an enjoyable film that turns the tables on the serial killers in a unique way. A good way to fill 90 minutes, though I don’t believe it has a lot of rewatch value. A quick thriller that is straightforward without any real twists.

Rating:

“As human beings we are free. Free to love, to hate, to fight, to kill. This freedom is found in every living person on this planet. There is no one person more powerful than the other. Only the one with the most will is the strongest.”