Julia, Matthew A. Brown’s directorial debut, is a film about a woman who, after being brutally gang raped, seeks retribution. This movie has a great sense of style. The opening shows Julia riding an escalator in a close shot, one that reveals who she is: unsure, awkward. The scene is repeated at the end to show that Julia has become a new person: confident, unafraid. This repetition reflects the change Julia has went through from beginning to end. Unfortunately, the big reveal at the end about Julia’s therapist at the end of the movie is preposterously underdeveloped, the love story seemed hollow and problematic, and much of the plot is ham-handed. Still, as with any revenge story, we’re rooting for Julia to reclaim what’s taken from her, and when she does, we feel like justice has been served.
