When most people think of revenge movies, they think of violent action thrillers, but this only scratches the surface. There are all sorts of great revenge movies, ranging from crime dramas to teen comedies. Vengeance and justice are universal themes, so it makes sense that they’re important to more than just the action genre.
Although movies like John Wick and Kill Bill have come to exemplify revenge cinema, they offer just one of many interpretations of the theme. Audiences often find violent, bloody revenge to be cathartic, even if it’s just a fantasy. Other types of revenge movies can be just as satisfying.
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The Sting (1973)
The Sting Pits Two Con Men Against A Violent Mob Boss
Many of the best heist movies ever distinguish themselves from the compeтιтion by adding a personal element to the capers, like Danny’s love for Tess in Ocean’s Eleven or Hanna and McCauley’s dynamic in Heat. Whether The Sting counts as a real heist movie or not, it certainly has a similar tone.
As Redford’s character states plainly, he resorts to the big con only because he has no experience of murdering people.
Robert Redford and Paul Newman star as two con artists who seek revenge against a violent Chicago-based mob boss for killing a close friend. As Redford’s character states plainly, he resorts to the big con only because he has no experience of murdering people, but the intent is the same, and this leads to a rapturous finale.
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Gone Girl (2014)
David Fincher’s Revenge Thriller Has Influenced A Whole Subgenre
The current wave of feminist revenge thrillers has a lot to thank Gone Girl for. Based on the best-selling book by Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl follows the chaos that erupts after a woman fakes her own kidnapping to frame her husband for a crime he didn’t commit.
Gone Girl is one of David Fincher’s best movies, putting a twist on his ongoing exploration of criminal psychology. Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike are both fantastic, which is important for a movie that’s so often about how people act and how they’re supposed to act.
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Promising Young Woman (2020)
Carey Mulligan Shines In A Gripping Thriller
Promising Young Woman is another thriller in the tradition of Gone Girl, one in which a woman takes violent revenge against the men who have ruined her life, but it also feels like a timely social document produced at the height of the #MeToo movement.
Promising Young Woman stars Carey Mulligan as a woman who seeks revenge against the man whose Sєxual violence contributed to her friend’s suicide. She delivers a compelling performance as a righteous agent of twisted justice, offering just enough ambiguity to avoid being too blunt. In this way, Promising Young Woman is the type of film that’s sure to spark debate and give audiences a lot to think about.
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Mean Girls (2004)
Mean Girls Finds The Humor In Petty Revenge
Mean Girls is a hilarious teen comedy, dissecting the absurd political melodrama that takes place in many high schools. To the characters involved, there’s nothing more important or more dramatic than people forming new relationships and shunning old friends, but from the outside it’s entertainingly low-stakes.
Mean Girls has a great script, packed with memorable quotes and scathing put-downs. The comedy is all rooted in riotously bad behavior, which contributes to the toxic environment of the high school that Cady finds herself sinking into. This explains why she’s willing to sink to Regina’s level when targeting revenge. Mean Girls has the broad strokes of a much more serious drama, but the story is told with piquant humor and a focus on fashion.
6
Murder On The Orient Express (2017)
The Classic Poirot Mystery Is All About Revenge
The first movie in Kenneth Branagh’s Hercule Poirot series adapts a true Agatha Christie classic. Murder on the Orient Express has been adapted for film and TV before, and many people watching Branagh’s version for the first time would already have known the twist, but it’s still a fun adaptation nonetheless.
Murder on the Orient Express sees Poirot stumbling into another perplexing mystery. As usual, his investigation must first address any possible motives among his limited pool of suspects. To say much more would risk spoiling the ending, but revenge plays an important factor.
5
Cape Fear (1991)
Martin Scorsese Remakes A Classic Revenge Story
Many of Martin Scorsese’s movies deal with the theme of revenge in some way, whether it’s tied to honor, personal pride or guilt. Cape Fear addresses revenge head-on, remaking a Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum movie from 1962 with just as much bite.
Robert De Niro shines as Max Cady, a newly-released convict who returns to torment the lawyer he blames for his incarceration. Rather than simply killing the lawyer, he goes about terrorizing his entire life, even seducing his teenage daughter. De Niro’s slimy, contemptuous performance is vital, as he gives off the air of a supernatural beast.
4
The Menu (2022)
The Horror-Comedy Is About One Man’s Artistic Revenge
The Menu is a strange and captivating movie, mostly because the script is designed to gradually drip-feed the audience information about the true nature of Chef Slowik’s mysterious restaurant. It doesn’t reveal his motives for revenge until relatively late in the story.
Chef Slowik seeks revenge against those who have profiteered off his art without ever fully understanding or appreciating it. This is an artist’s diatribe against the way wealthy elites commodify and quantify the work of other people. There’s also a hint of self-flagellation, as Slowik chastizes himself for his complicity.
3
Do Revenge (2022)
Do Revenge Mixes The Old With The New
Do Revenge is clearly inspired by Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, in which two people enter a mutual agreement to help each other with grave problems so that their crimes can’t be traced back to them. However, it’s also a teen comedy that pays homage to the likes of Mean Girls and Heathers.
By incorporating elements of popular teen comedies, complete with a brightly-colored aesthetic, Do Revenge puts a comedic spin on Highsmith’s novel and its famous Hitchcock adaptation. The essence of the story is still there, but Do Revenge is a more playful tale of unlikely friendship.
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The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004)
Wes Anderson’s Colorful Adventure Is Fueled By Revenge
Like all Wes Anderson movies, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is gorgeous to look at. However, in this case, the brightly colored settings, stop-motion creatures and stylish backdrops are all contrasted by the main character’s quest for bloody revenge against the shark that killed his best friend.
The Life Aquatic is a story about the wild things that grief can make people do. Steve Zissou faces personal and professional troubles, but his single-minded pursuit of vengeance is never far from his mind. It drives him to the depths of the ocean, and through dangerous side missions. Ultimately, he comes to understand that his rage is a poor salve for his grief.
1
Trading Places (1983)
Trading Places Dishes Out The Best Possible Revenge
Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd make a great comedic duo in Trading Places. They play two men who are used as pawns in a twisted game by two billionaire stockbrokers. Although these characters bicker for a while, they soon team up to plot their revenge against the men who treated their lives like nothing.
Trading Places is so satisfying because the nature of the revenge is proportionate to the transgression.
Trading Places is so satisfying because the nature of the revenge is proportionate to the transgression. Through their immoral wager, the stockbrokers prove that the only thing that matters to them is money, so seeing them being stripped of their ᴀssets and beaten at their own game is just as cathartic as any violent, action-packed revenge thriller.
