Revenge stories are so popular that they pretty much became a movie genre, but they often go in a direction viewers have seen many times before. While The Northman didn't thrive at the box office, it offered a great retelling of one of the most famous revenge stories, Hamlet.
However, the past years have also delivered movies that go completely against the idea of revenge or present it as something destructive or unattainable rather than self-fulfillment. In these narratives, the protagonists are often broken and flawed characters, unable to look for a fresh start. From violent stories to subtle psychological tales, here are the best anti-revenge movies.
Phoenix (2014)
With a post-World War II setup and a story of betrayal, Phoenix had everything to become a revenge movie, even with Christian Petzold's well-known subtle tone. The film follows Nelly, who just went through facial reconstruction surgery after she was injured by a bullet wound. Back in Berlin, she searches for her missing husband, who might have betrayed her to the Nazis.
Nelly is an incredibly enigmatic character and viewers might not understand her motivations until the very final scene, but Phoenix doesn't fail to deliver one of the most rewarding conclusions of the past years. Instead of going for the typical revenge story, the movie decides to focus on themes such as guilt and what it takes to move on.
Funny Games (2007)
Funny Games is one of the most violent movies ever made, but viewers barely see any blood on screen. Going for the same psychological, anxiety-inducing approach as the original from 1997, the movie tells the story of a horrifying holiday as a family is visited by two psychopaths.
This home invasion setup was seen thousands of times, but never in such an upsetting way. Funny Games doesn't reward viewers with any possibility of hope, a happy ending, or, of course, revenge. It's a distressing film with one disturbing message that goes on even after the credits roll.
The Nightingale (2018)
The Nightingale is that kind of movie that verges on becoming a horror film, presenting one of the most intense and shocking opening hour of the last few years, but it soon takes shape into a melancholic drama on trauma and human values. Set in 1825 Tasmania, Claire decides to go after the officers who killed her family, accompanied only by an Aboriginal tracker also marked by a violent past.
Starting as a straight-up revenge narrative, The Nightingale soon switches from a horrific story to a journey of self-discovery as two tormented souls find comfort and trust in one another.
The Reflecting Skin (1990)
The Reflecting Skin is an odd movie. It starts off seemingly as a vampire story set in a bright summer field, and that's already curious enough. However, it soon turns out to be an impressive study on the human condition and how it affects different generations through time, especially the children raised in a brutal American reality.
After his father tells him stories of vampires, little Seth Dove becomes convinced his widow neighbor is a vampire and tries to find ways of keeping his older brother away from him. It's devastating the amount of tragedy going on in this movie, but the anti-revenge message is what sticks out in the end, told through the eyes of a child.
American History X (1998)
With an unforgettable leading performance by Edward Norton, American History X discusses how the only way of preventing evil to flourish is by cutting it by its roots. Derek Vineyard was a skinhead and leader of a violent white supremacist gang, but now that he's reformed and fresh out of prison, he's determined to break off any with his gang and prevent his brother Danny from going down the same violent path as his.
The film is a brutal and bitter story of guilt, rage, and how violence only generates more violence. Retaliation is a reoccurring theme and the ending has one or two things to show about how revenge not often leads only to a path of self-destruction but it also draws everyone else around you.
The Vanishing (1988)
Rex and Saskia are enjoying a biking holiday in when, stopping at a gas station, Saskia disappears without a trace. Years later, her husband is not any closer to finding out what happened. Not to confuse with the American remake, The Vanishing (or Spoorloos) plays with the crime thriller genre tropes by showing to the audience the perpetrator of the crime right away. The mystery here revolves totally around the motivation behind this crime, and what actually happened.
In an incredible twist, the taste of revenge this narrative induces is replaced by aching curiosity. There's no scenario in The Vanishing where revenge fulfills anyone's needs, a movie completely driven by the circumstances.
I Saw The Devil (2010)
I Saw The Devil is not for everyone, it's a story moved by blatant rage, with gut-wrenching violent sequences. When the fiance of a secret agent is murdered by a ruthless serial killer, he plans a plot of revenge that might require him to act just as monstrous and cruel as the killer he's chasing.
In a game of cat and mouse, the two enemies face each other in a series of captures and releases that will ultimately lead to a bloody, melancholic ending. Revenge is a dish best served cold - but not in this case.
Irréversible (2002)
Irreversible is considered by many to be one of the most shockingly violent movies ever made, but it carries one incredible anti-revenge message. Starting with the way the story is told, the movie opts for a reverse-chronological order, as the opening scene follows two friends beating a man to death. The circumstances show that they were actually seeking revenge for the brutal rape of their girlfriend.
In a narrative where ending and beginning have no real impact on the way things unravel, revenge seems just as pointless as the disturbing event that motivated it.
7 Prisoners (2021)
One of the best Brazilian movies on Netflix, 7 Prisoners is an impressive thriller following a group of teenagers caught up in a human trafficking scheme. Struggling to survive and protect his family, Mateus, one of the impoverished teens, starts to befriend the man in charge of keeping his friends enslaved and must choose between working for him and carrying on a decent future, or risking his life for a plot of revenge and escape.
7 Prisoners is a movie where survival is all that matters, and uses an impressive social critique to present an undeniable truth of class discrimination: revenge won't feed you and your family.
Pig (2021)
Pig is the ultimate anti-revenge film of the past years. With one of the best performances by Nicolas Cage to date, the movie follows a truffle hunter, Rob, who lives alone in the wilderness accompanied by his beloved foraging pig. After the animal is suddenly kidnapped, the hunter must return to the painful past he left behind.
In a heartbreaking narrative, Pig is way more about finding something else to care about than fighting for what's already been lost. Devastated by the absence of his companion, Rob's quest is not driven by any thirst for revenge. He just wants his pig back, and that's all.
