In a Violent Nature
Writer-director Chris Nash has an interesting idea at the heart of “In a Violent Nature.” At least, from a formal sense. Unfortunately, when your main character you’re following is a mindless monster, driven by a sense of vengeance, making a horror film from their point-of-view is a tricky game. It does lean into the idea at the heart of slasher films, that most of the characters are cannon fodder and our only interest is in seeing how the slasher dispatches of them. But those characters are also our gateway to the film having personality, and empathy, and that is what “In a Violent Nature” misses the mark on. It tries to get there in the first, real moment of human connection between two characters in the third act, but by that point, we’re simply waiting for the film to end. And sadly, it ends with a whimper.
“In a Violent Nature” is not so much a three-act story as it is a long first act that doesn’t really bring normal human conflict into the game, and just follows a “final girl” into that third act, with no real payoff. It’s unfortunate because I quite enjoyed the way this film began, as we hear two people at the ruins of a burned-out house discuss the legend of a crime spree that happened 60 years ago. When they remove a locket from the scene, Johnny- the corpse who committed the crimes- arises from the dead, seeking vengeance. As we follow Johnny on his bloody journey, the way Nash uses cinematic language is fascinating, sometimes forcing us to see the violence on screen, and sometimes, looking away, preparing us for the journey to the next victim. In the first half of the film is where Nash’s film is at its strongest, including with a kill so gruesome and vulgar it will not be forgotten.
Sadly, following the silent killer- who seems to have no personality and thoughts of their own- is only going to take a film so far, and after a while, “In a Violent Nature” grows monotonous, and we have long gotten its point. Brutality and amorality is a presence in life, and if we manage to survive it, we are fortunate not only for our own personal fortitude, but that we found the right person, in the right time, of our life. In that way, the third act is an important catharsis to the evil that came before, but by that time in the film, my interest had already deflated. For all its interest at times, I ended “In a Violent Nature” feeling like it fell flat, and didn’t really accomplish what it intended to set out to do, because it tried to stretch an interested short film concept into a feature, and forgot why feature film slashers ultimately engage us in the first place. It’s not just because of the kills, no matter what fans say to the contrary.
