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Random Acts of Violence

2019 1h 20m Horror List
58% Tomatometer 78 Reviews 27% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
Comic book writers discover horrific events are related to a character they created.
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Random Acts of Violence

Random Acts of Violence

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Critics Consensus

Random Acts of Violence falls short as an intelligent analysis of its themes, but viewers looking for chance instances of brutality won't be let down.

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Critics Reviews

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Randy Myers San Jose Mercury News It’s a sordid publicity stunt that leads to disaster and forces the creator — a la Frankenstein and “Misery” — to face his own monster. Rated: 3/4 Dec 23, 2022 Full Review Robbie Collin Kermode & Mayo's Film Review It's as if the film can't find the ending it is looking for...I was really with this, and then suddenly I was not. Aug 25, 2020 Full Review Robert Daniels 812filmreviews Random Acts of Violence explores artistic exploitation, inspiration, and consequence in a confused slasher bereft of a point. Rated: 1/4 Aug 21, 2020 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review General audiences may find the film's imbalance of gore and aesthetic debates tiresome, whereas genre enthusiasts will surely embrace the discussion. Rated: 3/4 Feb 18, 2022 Full Review Frederick Blichert Vice Random Acts of Violence has the familiar slasher movie trappings...but theres a freshness to what Baruchel is going for too. A broad attempt to look at how violence manifests, not just within the film but in how were made to confront it as viewers. Feb 13, 2022 Full Review Jason Shawhan Nashville Scene ...Baruchel the director knows how to execute (in both senses of the word) an unflinching set piece or two. Sep 10, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Grimm R Random Acts of Violence is a horror slasher that follows a comic book writer Todd, on a roadtrip as he struggles to write the final issue of his comic series based on the I-90 killer, "SlasherMan," but things take a turn when random acts of violence start happening straight out of the gore-filled comic book, Todd must solve these murders and figure out who is behind them. This movie stars Jordana Brewster, Jesse Williams and Jay Baruchel who is also directing the movie as well. I just want to start off by saying how engaged I got into this movie from the beginning as the premise was intriguing and the animation that was being used was a little cheap but it worked for me and for what the movie was going for. There's this whole conversation throughout the movie about whether movies or in this instance, comics glorify these killers and influence the behavior of people who read or watch this type of entertainment which is horror, gore-filled violence and I really was all into the story and those moments of narrative that the movie was using. I thought it was interesting how this movie also uses inspiration from the real life I-90 killer instead of creating a fictional serial killer to base the comics off of but I also feel like it helps ground the story and helps make this feel more real than it is. The slogan of this movie "Death imitates art" really is interesting to me when we get to see how insane the kills and level of gore that is in this movie which again makes me miss those good practical effects. There's also this twist towards the end which it was obvious what would be revealed in the end with these flashbacks but with that being said, the level of context and background knowledge I feel elevates the story and how intense and horrifying it really is. There's even questions in this movie about how it seems we always give the spotlight to these killers instead of their victims which I truly felt & it was working for me. I feel like if this movie would've been a bit longer, the ending could have been better as the movie starts to lose itself and goes in a direction which almost feels directionless. Like up until the final act is when the movie was really entertaining and had me locked in and then the 3rd act made me a little puzzled and just derailed for me. Overall, Random Acts of Violence is an entertaining and intense slasher with some great gory practical effects and really great story elements which all worked for me up until the 3rd act. Random Acts of Violence gets a B- Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/25/24 Full Review Jeffrey P Looks like an attempt at a slasher horror road movie gone wrong before make-believe shakily becomes reality. There is a good idea here, it just didn't seem to come together. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/11/23 Full Review prawnda s to quote the film itself: "that's why you can't come up with an ending for your book. you have nothing to say". this line could not more perfectly sum up my issues with the movie. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review tee s Unnecessarily violent and disturbing. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review IrateTyrant C Score for DCU "superdark" genre Great dark action movie in the tradition of Se7en or Silence of the Lambs with a twist of its own that makes it unique. The themes of the plot are interesting, and its scenes are dark, graphic, and dynamic. It fits in the pattern of DCU movies along the lines of Road to Perdition and A History of Violence, or even Brightburn, and has enough haunting scenes of violence which make it memorable in its own rite. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/29/23 Full Review Audience Member This is one of the most honest horror films I have seen, with a clear vision and a well use of production gore in a way that kept it realistic, and not cinema real, but real in a way that audiences may not appreciate. The script is clean and straight forward, the cast and performances are also on point, so it saddens me to see many have not touched or given this a chance. In a lot of ways it is the embodiment of what horror should be which is showcasing the rage of the time of the era in which it represents. This film does that, and is unapologetic in it's course of thematic balance of violence and self expression, artist versus struggle and men versus himself. I've always enjoyed Jay's work, and I hope he continues to work and create. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Random Acts of Violence

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Cast & Crew

The Void 78% 48% The Void Sinphony: A Clubhouse Horror Anthology 83% 67% Sinphony: A Clubhouse Horror Anthology A Place Among the Dead 57% 94% A Place Among the Dead TRAILER for A Place Among the Dead We're All Going to the World's Fair 90% 27% We're All Going to the World's Fair TRAILER for We're All Going to the World's Fair Found Footage 100% 51% Found Footage Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Comic book writers discover horrific events are related to a character they created.
Director
Jay Baruchel
Producer
Jay Baruchel, Randy Manis, Noah Segal
Screenwriter
Jesse Chabot
Production Co
Kickstart Productions, JoBro Productions & Film Finance
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 20, 2020
Runtime
1h 20m
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