Overview
Alice Lowe directs and stars in this riotous tale of a pregnant serial killer, hellbent on revenge. Ruth is pregnant and full of murderous fury. Cloaked in ordinariness and with a sinister internal dialogue impelling her on, our highly cynical anti-heroine has a shape-shifting personality and a moral compass thatβs gone AWOL.
Loweβs directorial debut starts as a dark comedy, and just keeps getting darker. Like Sightseers, which Lowe co-scripted and starred in, the film has an exhilarating sense of tonal incongruity, constantly wrong-footing any of its characters foolish enough to underestimate seemingly dour Ruthβs capacity for extreme behaviour. Directed and performed when Lowe was herself seven months pregnant, a state rarely presented onscreen by those actually experiencing it, Prevenge offers an insight β albeit a severe one β that goes far beyond hormonal havoc. What not to expect when youβre expecting.
Related

Alma's Rainbow Alma's Rainbow
Comedy 1993 89 mins Director: Ayoka Chenzira
Ayoka Chenziraβs vital coming-of-age comedy about three Black women living in Brooklyn learning to embrace life and exercise their agency.

The Balconettes The Balconettes
Comedy 2024 104 mins Director: NoΓ©mie Merlant
Co-written with CΓ©line Sciamma, NoΓ©mie Merlantβs bright and bold film follows three friends as they try to dispose of the body of an abuser theyβve accidentally killed.

Barking Dogs Never Bite Barking Dogs Never Bite
Comedy 2000 111 mins Director: Bong Joon-ho
A professor takes drastic action to silence a barking dog in this superb debut feature from Bong Joon-ho, the Oscar-winning director of Parasite.

The Living Wake The Living Wake
Comedy 2007 92 mins Director: Sol Tyron
Accompanied by his faithful assistant Mills (Jesse Eisenberg), self-proclaimed genius K. Roth Binew (Mike OβConnell) decides to go out in style following a terminal prognosis β staging a living wake.

Paterson Paterson
Comedy 2016 118 mins Director: Jim Jarmusch
Adam Driver excels in this effortlessly charming tale of a bus driver poet in New Jersey, filmed with typically groovy elan by Jim Jarmusch.

The Love Witch The Love Witch
Comedy 2016 121 mins Director: Anna Biller
A modern-day witch uses spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her, in Anna Biller's outrageous tribute to 1960s Technicolor melodramas.

Withnail & I Withnail & I
Comedy 1988 107 mins Director: Bruce Robinson
Richard E. Grant steals the show in the indomitable cult classic following two washed-up actors as they embark on a booze-filled getaway to the Lake District.

Bridesmaids Bridesmaids
Comedy 2011 125 mins Director: Paul Feig
Much more than a girls-being-bad comedy, this matrimonial farce finely captures female friendship in all its glory.

Duck Soup Duck Soup
Comedy 1933 69 mins Director: Leo McCarey
The Marx Brothers' lunatic satire of international relations finds Groucho in his his most memorable role as Rufus T. Firefly - leader of Freedonia. A comic masterpiece.

Citizen Ruth Citizen Ruth
Drama 1996 106 mins Director: Alexander Payne
Laura Dern is hilarious an addict unwittingly caught in the midst of America's culture wars, in Alexander Payne's superb first feature - previously unreleased in the UK.

Chasing Amy Chasing Amy
Comedy 1996 113 mins Director: Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith's quirky charmer features an early-career Ben Affleck as the comic-book artist who discovers the girl of his dreams is a lesbian.

The Associate The Associate
Comedy 1996 114 mins Director: Donald Petrie
Whoopi Goldberg plays an investment banker forced to invent a male superior in this unjustly forgotten, feminist workplace satire.

Days of the Bagnold Summer Days of the Bagnold Summer
Comedy 2019 86 mins Director: Simon Bird
Simon Birdβs directorial debut is a warm and witty graphic novel adaptation about a single librarian trying to reconnect with her introverted, metalhead teenage son.

Red Road Red Road
Thriller 2006 110 mins Director: Andrea Arnold
Andrea Arnoldβs highly acclaimed film, winner of top prizes at Cannes and the BFI London Film Festival, is a haunting drama about a woman confronting past demons.

Alma's Rainbow Alma's Rainbow
Comedy 1993 89 mins Director: Ayoka Chenzira
Ayoka Chenziraβs vital coming-of-age comedy about three Black women living in Brooklyn learning to embrace life and exercise their agency.

Losing Ground Losing Ground
Drama 1982 86 mins Director: Kathleen Collins
A philosophy professor and an artist reach a crisis point in their marriage, in Kathleen Collinsβ groundbreaking masterpiece.

Welcome II the Terrordome Welcome II the Terrordome
Drama 1995 94 mins Director: Ngozi Onwurah
A ferocious dystopian nightmare, this was the first film directed by a Black British woman to receive a UK theatrical release.

Naked Acts Naked Acts
Drama 1996 88 mins Director: Bridgett M. Davis
Bridgett M. Davisβs comedy about an aspiring young Black actress who lands her first major role, but thereβs a big problem: it requires a nude scene.

The Cruz Brothers and Miss Malloy The Cruz Brothers and Miss Malloy
Drama 1979 49 mins Director: Kathleen Collins
Kathleen Collinsβ debut feature about three brothers tasked with renovating an elderly womanβs mansion so she can host one last party before she dies.

Long Day's Journey Into Night Long Day's Journey Into Night
Drama 2018 138 mins Director: Bi Gan
Bi Gan's βdestroyed film noir' is a dazzling dive into an immersive dreamscape.