Top 10 “Rape and Revenge” Films for “Sexual Assault Awareness Month” [Linwood’s Picks]

In honor of “Sexual Assault Awareness Month”, I have decided to select ten of my favorite thought-provoking films that deal with the topic of this month. Some are meant to be seen as a picture that simulates the feeling of empowerment, while others more so tackle resolution. All deal with various themes of trauma and the intricacies of the mind as it is being processed throughout the ordeal from several perspectives.
I have excluded movies such as the ‘I Spit on Your Grave’ franchise and ‘Thriller – A Cruel Picture’, because while I absolutely love the exploitation genre as it is a very raw form of storytelling for artistic filmmakers, I don’t see the purpose of them other than to be gruesome entertainment that doesn’t stir up meaningful discussion.
Evidently, there is a “trigger warning” for those who are unfamiliar with how the sub-genre can be unnerving to experience at times. All filmmakers are different and handle the subject matter as a form of entertainment differently. Whether that be grounded and mature, or shamelessly with crafting a blunt message for the audience.
10. MS. 45
9. REVENGE (2018)
8. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
“Journalist Mikael Blomkvist is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing for forty years by Lisbeth Salander, a young computer hacker.”
7. STRAW DOGS
“Los Angeles screenwriter David Sumner relocates with his wife to her hometown in the deep South. There, while tensions build between them, a brewing conflict with locals becomes a threat to them both.”
6. FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE (1977)
5. DEATH RIDES A HORSE
4. THE PRODIGIES
The film is based on Bernard Lenteric’s early ’80s novel of the same name (French title: La nuit des enfants rois), and centers around a group of gifted teenagers whose past traumas cause them to wreak havoc against the world — and the one person capable of putting a stop to their revenge.”