M.F.A.

M.F.A. is a film that does well in making you feel uncomfortable watching sexual assault unfold on the screen before - as it rightfully should. The film tells the story of Noelle (Francesca Eastwood) after being sexually assaulted. Without a voice and with no one telling her that going to the authorities will help, Eastwood's accidental murder of her rapist sets off a chain of murders in classic I Spit On Your Grave fashion - just with less gore and taking a bit more of a realistic approach. 

What the film gets right are the sexual assault segments which include Eastwood's own victimization as well as a fellow campus dweller whose assault is shown on screen recorded through a cell phone. Both scenes are well done in the fact that they are horrible and make you understand what these women go through, but in some sense I reckon they are not necessary. It does not take much to hate a rapist, and knowing what these men at the college committed requires little to no energy to watch their deaths with joy. I think if the film would have picked up during the aftermath of Noelle's assault, it would have been much more interesting to watch and unfold her story and struggle on the college campus. 

The plot is pretty straightforward as Noelle goes from one college student to the next avenging both herself and another victim whose case was dismissed due to them being football players. Whether she was drugging one, assaulting another in the showers with a hammer, or bashing another's head off the floor, it was always joyous to watch Eastwood murder the unforgivable scum with her cold, hard eyes.

Where the film suffered was scripting more than anything. I sometimes felt as if I was reading rhetoric straight from an online forum debate or political discussion than actually hearing a unique voice from Eastwood's character in Noelle. Rather than following guidelines, the film needed to find Noelle's character more and rely less on what's already been said. 

I also felt as if a couple of plot lines were not seen through to full extent. A counselor on the campus is discovered to be involved in the cover-ups as an example, but Noelle never sees that element all the way through. I would have liked to see the woman in charge suffer for what she did, but for whatever reason her crimes against humanity just weren't disgusting enough to earn an appropriate death. That was rather annoying. A couple of other sub-plots befell the film, such as a detective following the murders, and Noelle avenging her friend by attempting but failing to kill her rapist. 

However, through all the grime and uncomfortable elements within the film, Eastwood shines brightly as the star. When not reading lines that seem out of a textbook, her raw emotion is addicting to watch on screen and her persona as Noelle strengthens with each committed murder, even if those scenes are a little tacky to watch every now and again. 

Give the film a shot, it's awkward at times but the message is unbeatable.