Movie Review: Eat Me is a Challenging Film With a Serious Dark Streak!

A woman, who is a really shitty house keeper by the way, decides today is the day to commit suicide, and she makes a real day of it too…gobbling pills, planning her death pose, hiding dildos…and of course watching The Beverly Hillbillies, all as one does. Things go south on that plan however when she passes out from the drugs and is promptly raped (well the attempt was there) by one of a pair of home invaders…oh movie, you’re going to be one of those types of affairs, eh?
Well not exactly, as the more sympathetic of the duo keeps her awake while his pal goes on a food run, and manages to make her puke during a beej that he talks her into…oh man, this is going to be a rough one…Further degradation occurs as our loathsome unwanted house guest abuses his victim by making her eat and drink from cat dishes while a belt is tied around her neck, threatens her asshole with a knife, pisses on her, repeatedly punches her…what he didn’t bargain on is that our beleaguered protagonist is seriously more fucked up then he bargained for, and she soon begins psychologically breaking him down. Before long the physical ordeal becomes a battle of the wits as our hunter and prey analyze each other and the tables turn frequently.
Eat Me is one hell of a hard watch…the torture our heroine endures is rather brutal at times, and it all seems pointless…and in essence a lot of it is and that is the point…life can wear you down with it’s mundane, often unfair, and totally unavoidable banality…often cruelly so. The cast, comprised of only three actors (with a brief glimpse here and there of someone else), Jacqueline Wright (who also wrote the film which was adapted from her play) who gives an immensely emotional and touching performance as suicidal Tommy, Brad Carter (as Bob, the home invader we spend the most time with and who has troubles of his own), and Michael Shamus Wiles as Frank…all are excellent and all are at times deplorable and human (to varying degrees). There are also surprising instances of humor and pathos, especially when Bob begins critiquing what he believes to be Tommy’s suicide note, and then forces her to write a more appropriate one.
While the subject matter isn’t going to be for everyone (honestly, it wasn’t even for me as I often try to avoid pictures such as these), there is definitely a taut, emotion shattering thriller present here with terrific writing and a fantastic cast. Give Eat Me a shot if you want to see a more cerebral and challenging motion picture with a dark streak a mile long!