PHOTO BY , COURTESY OF BADLANDS ENTERTAINMENT

A VIGILANTE

Where is it playing?: Amazon Prime

What's it rated?: R

Writer-director Sarah Daggar-Nickson helms this 2018 tale about domestic violence, revenge, and—as the title promised—vigilantism. Olivia Wilde stars as mysterious Sadie, who we discover helps women and children get out of abusive situations. Jumping back and forth through time, we learn Sadie’s own troubling history and what set her on the path of saving others.

Wilde is terrific in the role. Her Sadie might mete out punishment like a badass, but she’s also dealing with her own PTSD and personal losses. Watching Wilde’s crazed face as she prepares for battle or seeing her breakdown at the sight of the abuse she stops is very affecting. Wilde’s Sadie is haunted by her past and determined to save others from her fate.

It’s certainly a lot of fun watching the bad guys, and in one case bad woman, get what they deserve. The story doesn’t bother to humanize the victimizers. They’re horrible and wholly unsympathetic. Hence, there’s not a lot of nuance or subtly to the story—but there is revenge, and it’s satisfying. (91 min.) 

—Glen Starkey