Spoken-word poet Wally (Lesley Smith) is a queer woman who sympathizes with her straight girlfriends’ struggle to meet reliable, non-violent men. News of non-consensual incidents with a particular guy—a popular chef in the neighbourhood—makes the women want to exact revenge on violent men. Wally has her own dating woes, but after a successful night with Lou (Kathleen Dorian), she impulsively attacks the chef in question. She’s exhilarated by the rush of violence and the power she wields; seduced and fueled by the women who applaud the mystery attacker. Reports sent to her anonymous tip line enforce the urge to attack men behind numerous assaults. When she enlists her lover Lou as backup and suspects her sister may be in an abusive relationship, Wally’s intense need for power and vengeance may jeopardize everything.
“Guaranteed to get people talking about women’s power, consent and the end of violence against women.” – Carolyn Mauricette
Tara Thorne Director Statement
Unlike the myriad similarly toned films that depict violence against women, the point of COMPULSUS is not the details of the attacks, it’s that they’re happening at all.
First, Wally has not suffered any violence herself. She has not been raped like Lisbeth Salander or The Bride. She has not experienced domestic abuse, or family molestation, or even a bad date. This isn’t trauma porn, wherein a woman must suffer in order to be angry, to want revenge. We are angry because we have reason to be. Full stop. A violent man’s motive is rarely questioned, and never justified, onscreen. It’s enough that the world has simply gotten him down—Joker proved this to the tune of a billion dollars.
Second, where many films—especially violence-based action films, but really most films—have an obligatory female character and a smattering of ornamental women, Compulsus deliberately removes men. All seven attack victims are played by the same male actor, whose face we never see, whose name(s) we never hear. Where the average movie erases women by not even considering them, we have removed men on purpose.
COMPULSUS—“striking together (hostile)”—is not lazily “gender-flipped,” which is not what we meant when we said we wanted to see stronger female characters. In its existence, staging, casting, and editing, it’s a complete subversion of the Loner Male stereotype. It lifts and centres women, and punishes and erases men.
- Year2022
- Runtime80 minutes
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryCanada
- PremiereAustralian Premiere
- DirectorTara Thorne
- ScreenwriterTara Thorne
- ProducerNicole Steeves
- CastKoumbie, Lesley Smith, Kathleen Dorian, Hilary Adams, Kathryn McCormack, James MacLean
- CinematographerCecile Holland
- EditorAnna MacLean
- Sound DesignOlivia King
- MusicKINLEY
Spoken-word poet Wally (Lesley Smith) is a queer woman who sympathizes with her straight girlfriends’ struggle to meet reliable, non-violent men. News of non-consensual incidents with a particular guy—a popular chef in the neighbourhood—makes the women want to exact revenge on violent men. Wally has her own dating woes, but after a successful night with Lou (Kathleen Dorian), she impulsively attacks the chef in question. She’s exhilarated by the rush of violence and the power she wields; seduced and fueled by the women who applaud the mystery attacker. Reports sent to her anonymous tip line enforce the urge to attack men behind numerous assaults. When she enlists her lover Lou as backup and suspects her sister may be in an abusive relationship, Wally’s intense need for power and vengeance may jeopardize everything.
“Guaranteed to get people talking about women’s power, consent and the end of violence against women.” – Carolyn Mauricette
Tara Thorne Director Statement
Unlike the myriad similarly toned films that depict violence against women, the point of COMPULSUS is not the details of the attacks, it’s that they’re happening at all.
First, Wally has not suffered any violence herself. She has not been raped like Lisbeth Salander or The Bride. She has not experienced domestic abuse, or family molestation, or even a bad date. This isn’t trauma porn, wherein a woman must suffer in order to be angry, to want revenge. We are angry because we have reason to be. Full stop. A violent man’s motive is rarely questioned, and never justified, onscreen. It’s enough that the world has simply gotten him down—Joker proved this to the tune of a billion dollars.
Second, where many films—especially violence-based action films, but really most films—have an obligatory female character and a smattering of ornamental women, Compulsus deliberately removes men. All seven attack victims are played by the same male actor, whose face we never see, whose name(s) we never hear. Where the average movie erases women by not even considering them, we have removed men on purpose.
COMPULSUS—“striking together (hostile)”—is not lazily “gender-flipped,” which is not what we meant when we said we wanted to see stronger female characters. In its existence, staging, casting, and editing, it’s a complete subversion of the Loner Male stereotype. It lifts and centres women, and punishes and erases men.
- Year2022
- Runtime80 minutes
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryCanada
- PremiereAustralian Premiere
- DirectorTara Thorne
- ScreenwriterTara Thorne
- ProducerNicole Steeves
- CastKoumbie, Lesley Smith, Kathleen Dorian, Hilary Adams, Kathryn McCormack, James MacLean
- CinematographerCecile Holland
- EditorAnna MacLean
- Sound DesignOlivia King
- MusicKINLEY