Spoiler-Free Review: THE WRATH OF BECKY (Calgary Underground Film Festival)

April 24, 2023

Written by Joseph Perry

Joseph Perry is the Film Festival Editor for Horror Fuel; all film festival related queries and announcements should be sent to him at josephperry@gmail.com. He is a contributing writer for the "Phantom of the Movies VideoScope" and “Drive-In Asylum” print magazines and the websites Gruesome Magazine, Diabolique Magazine, The Scariest Things, B&S About Movies, and When It Was Cool. He is a co-host of the "Uphill Both Ways" pop culture nostalgia podcast and also writes for its website. Joseph occasionally proudly co-writes articles with his son Cohen Perry, who is a film critic in his own right. A former northern Californian and Oregonian, Joseph has been teaching, writing, and living in South Korea since 2008.

Becky’s back, and that’s bad news for another bunch of neo-Nazis. In The Wrath of Becky, Lulu Wilson reprises the titular role in this sequel to 2020’s Becky, in which a preteen girl wastes a group of white supremacists who killed her father. This time around, a trio of them hassle her at the restaurant where she waitresses, and after she embarrasses one of them, they invade the home of the woman with whom she is staying and do some nasty business, including stealing her beloved dog Diego.

Interestingly, the codirectors and writers of Becky didn’t repeat their roles for this sequel, which was helmed by Matt Angel (who also costars as one of the baddies) and Suzanne Coote, and written by Angel with Coote receiving a story credit. The pair give the sequel a decidedly more humorous tone than its predecessor, and I had a blast watching Becky deliver comeuppance to the villains and get herself out of trouble, only to wind up in more messes. 

There’s gore — with super practical effects and makeup on display — and menace galore in The Wrath of Becky. If you haven’t caught the original film yet, it shouldn’t be a problem to just jump in with this one, but there are a few key points brought over from that one.

Sean William Scott breaks out of his usual comical roles to deliver a fine performance as the main heavy, the faction leader of supremacist group Noble Men, who are planning some terrible things for an upcoming political event. The other supporting players are solid, as well, but Wilson is outstanding as the inventive, sassy Becky. 

Wilson makes for a fun-to-watch action-horror hero, and though it may take a bit more of willing suspension of disbelief than usual to think that a teen girl can outsmart as many foes as she does, viewers who give in to her winning performance should have a great time with The Wrath of Becky.

 

 

The Wrath of Becky is part of Calgary Underground Film Festival, which takes place in Calgary, Canada from April 20–30.

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