Vengeance (Novak) 2022

To say I was pleasantly surprised by this film would be an understatement. There is plenty to love here and it is a promising directorial debut from The Office’s B. J. Novak.

Now, the premise of this film is a bit odd on reflection. Ben (Novak) is a journalist from New York City who gets a call from the family of Abilene, a girl he had a fling with, informing him that she is dead. Her brother asks Ben to come to West Texas for her funeral where he quickly realizes that the girl had made much more of their relationship than he had. To top it off, he decides to record a podcast about the situation, complete with interviews with the family and acquaintances, as he tries to figure out who murdered her.

​As odd as that may sound, I think that’s the whole point here. I could actually see myself listening to a podcast like the one Ben makes in the film with the help of his producer Eloise (Issa Rae), who also serves as his lifeline back to New York and the life he had before.

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​The rest of the cast is good with Boyd Holbrook shining brightest as Abilene’s eldest brother. Dove Cameron and Isabella Amara play her sisters which should have been one character, while Eli Bickel plays her quiet youngest brother, mourning the passing of his sister by connecting with Ben. Ashton Kutcher brings in a solid performance as the somewhat villainous music producer who was helping Abilene kick off a music career, but might be into more than just music.

The film plays the “fish out of water” trope in a fresh way for the most part, dropping in humor at Ben trying to fit in while clearly not fitting in at all. The film is clearly a statement on certain aspects of our culture and veers a bit between beating you over the head with it and keeping it so hidden that it’s hard to find. It is not a perfect film, but a solid directorial debut which leaves me excited to see what Novak tackles next.

7 out of 10​