Bystanders

US, 2024  

REVENGE CUTS DEEP.

*** 1/2

Directed by: Mary Beth McAndrews

Starring:  Jamie Alvey, Brando Botkin, John Conners, Bob Wilcox, Erica Dodt, Hannah Fierman, Deaton Gabbard, Zach Hurley, Callie Kirk, Chaney Morrow, Garrett Murphy, Eric six

Choice dialogue:  ”You know, it’s kinda difficult to hit a small target and I was aiming for your dick.” 

Slasher Trash with Panache?

Review: JA Kerswell

Normally, I wouldn’t give away a film’s twist, but it is revealed in the trailer and pretty early on in the proceedings, so I feel it’s fair game. Clare and Gray are a pair of righteous serial killers who only target bad guys—think DEXTER. So they couldn’t have come into Abby’s life at a better time. They turn the tables on the frat boys—who quickly become the panicky hunted. As I mentioned, whilst the film ably sets up the reasons for revenge—unlike other earlier films that deal with the same subject matter—it is heard but not seen. Likewise, we never see the fate of her friends—although we presume they have been killed. The torture and murder of the fratboys, however, is drawn out, painful and bloody—although not without a sense of jet-black humour.
 
Writer Jamie Alvey (who also plays Clare) and director Mary Beth McAndrews juggle some obviously supercharged themes, from violent misogyny to the corrupting powers of generational privilege. However, perhaps it is a shame that there is no sense of nuance in the film. The frat clique are quite literally poster boys for toxic masculinity. There is no shred of humanity or even individual uncertainty about their actions, which makes them easy to hate. There are, of course, people out there like that—and that in itself is chilling.
 
Clare and Gray are a likeable trauma-bonded couple who exorcise their demons through hurting bad people—yet, by their own admission, they also enjoy violence and inflicting pain. Perhaps the film misses a trick by making Abby a willing accomplice in the retribution so early on (although she obviously has good reason to want to exact revenge). Adding an element where she was unsure how stable her saviours actually were and how safe she would be after seeing their murder spree might have added an extra frisson of tension—as it is, they are simply accepted as her Avenging Angels.
 
As to be expected with an indie, the performances can vary but tend to be strong and committed most of the time—especially from the principals. The film is well-shot and makes the most of its budget by cleverly utilising limited locations—the woods and the cabin where the chaos begins.
 
Although not always the most comfortable viewing, BYSTANDERS never loses sight of the fact that, while uncompromising, it is also a genre film—and a satisfying one at that.    

BODY COUNT 9: 
Female 3 / Male 6

  1. Female presumably killed (offscreen)
  2. Female presumably killed (offscreen)
  3. Male is hit over the head repeatedly with a rock
  4. Male has his cock cut off and throat slit
  5. Male is drowned in a bathtub full of booze
  6. Male is choked out with a baseball bat
  7. Male is burned to death
  8. Male is shot dead
  9. Female is stabbed in the neck



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BYSTANDERS trailer

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