Review of Blue Ruin (2014) by Vaughan M — 10 May 2016

Blue Ruin is an exceptionally ordinary well executed revenge story. Viscerally intelligent, the stripped down story offers a thrillingly grim unpredictable journey while being oddly endearing.

A mysterious drifter's life is turned upside down when he returns to his childhood home to carry out an act of vengeance. Seeking retaliation for the long ago murder of his parents, he winds up in a brutal fight to protect himself and his family.

Jeremy Saulnier's 2013 low budget gem refreshingly takes on the classic eye-for-an-eye riff. Cleverly unpredictable, this dark hill billy gothic tale has a sicko sense of humour and truly conquers the significance of less is more.

With a brilliant opening, Blue Ruin covers in twenty minutes what most revenge thrillers would spend their entire running time on. Instead following the fallout from those actions here begins the unpredictable journey of our damage drifter, Dwight (Macon Blair). Portrayed brilliantly by Blair, holding nothing back, the raw honesty of his performance dramatically builds the tension complimented with the everyday realism. There is no Hollywood gloss here, just average looking people and clumsy violence.

Blue Ruin is a graphic but simple intimate story of a broken man. Taut and refreshingly authentic, Blair exceeds exceptionally as your unusual leading man.