Compulsus
Compulsus
4.8
An incendiary queer drama for the Me Too era in which Wally, driven by rage, empathy, and something she can’t yet name, secretly patrols the streets at night, taking physical revenge on abusive hipster men on behalf of the survivors who can’t. When law-abiding Lou enters her world, love and revenge clash threatening to infiltrate their relationship.
Kevin Ward reviewedJuly 6, 2025
Wally, a technical writer / beat poet, is overcome hearing stories from her friends about men who have committed abuses against women, yet have suffered no consequences. Her anger and empathy turn into a compulsion exact vigilante justice on these perpetrators. She puts the ‘beat’ in her beat poetry. However, when she begins dating a law abiding court stenographer she has to grapple with the morality of her beat downs. Is violence justified in the name of vigilantism? How about a revolution? Can she simply take victims’ words that these abuses have taken place? Compulsus offers a sort of rape revenge fantasy flick that isn’t afraid to confront what such a revolution might look like. Though I loved Promising Young Woman because of how Emerald Fennel was careful not to allow Cassie to cross certain lines in exacting her vengeance, I do think that Compulsus is a worthwhile addition to the conversation, even if it seems to land on a weird morality.