Vengeance

"Find the story before it finds you."

2022 1h 48m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 493

ComedyMysteryThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Ben, a journalist from New York City, travels to West Texas in order to investigate the death of a girl he was hooking up with while recording a murder mystery podcast along the way.

“Find the story before it finds you.”

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Cast

B.J. Novak
Ben Manalowitz
Boyd Holbrook
Ty Shaw
J. Smith-Cameron
Sharon Shaw
Issa Rae
Eloise
Ashton Kutcher
Quentin Sellers
Lio Tipton
Abilene Shaw
Dove Cameron
Kansas City Shaw
Isabella Amara
Paris Shaw

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: B.J. Novak
Writers: B.J. Novak
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Released 4 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by B.J. Novak, shot by Lyn Moncrief. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by FINNEAS. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Plummy Tucker shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

B.J. Novak and Boyd Holbrook and J. Smith-Cameron carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Find the story before it finds you.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt11976532 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

B.J. Novak directs. Lyn Moncrief behind the camera. FINNEAS scores. Plummy Tucker cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 4 years ago.
2Directed by B.J. Novak, shot by Lyn Moncrief. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by FINNEAS. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Plummy Tucker shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5B.J. Novak and Boyd Holbrook and J. Smith-Cameron carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Find the story before it finds you.".
7IMDB entry: tt11976532 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 15 themes, including "journalist", "small town", "funeral", "texas".
9Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Lyn Moncrief
Original score: FINNEAS
Editing: Plummy Tucker
Production design: Hillary Andujar
Costume design: Rachel Sage Kunin
Makeup / hair: Megg Massey
Sound: P.K. Hooker
Stunt coordinator: Mark Riccardi
Runtime: 108 min · 1h 48m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $4,225,720
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Vengeance (2022)

Also by

B.J. Novak

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Community reviews

What people are saying

rsanek2022-10-07
★ 9/10
Amazingly well-done. Film gets especially good in the last 20%, super rare!
CinemaSerf2022-10-21
★ 7/10
When "Ben Manalowitz" (auteur B J Novak) gets a phone call, he leaves his New York home to travel to a remote desert community to find out what happened to a girl he had once hooked up with. Upon arrival he realises that this could be the subject for a serious podcast and so sets out to find her killer - at the behest of her brother "Ty" (Boyd Holbrook) - and simultaneously to offer an analysis of just how these folks live their lives - such a contrast to the style of fast-paced urban dwelling he is used to, and manna from heaven to his producer "Eloise" (Issa Rae). The storyline itself is rather procedural, but there is a decent degree of humour in this film - especially starting with the man-to-man chat at the top of the film which shows neither in a particularly good light. Thereafter some sparingly entertaining contributions from Ashton Kutcher help ginger this along in a sort of film noir style. The quirkiness of the townsfolk's real existence - centred largely around a burger bar; the characterful personalities and an equally effective score from Finneas O'Connell all help to generate a decently paced and quite compelling mystery that I found myself drawn into more than I was expecting. Novak isn't a great actor, but the writing - ultimately offering us an opportunity to evaluate his character and his flaws as much as of anyone else; the developing scenarios and the whole sense of mischief here do most of the heavy lifting allowing us to enjoy the concept without necessarily having to appreciate the acting scene by scene. I really did rather like the ending too.
The Movie Mob2022-11-01
★ 6/10
Vengeance is a decent movie with big questions, funny moments, and endearing characters that loses itself in trying to do too many things all at once. Vengeance wears a lot of hats (or stetsons, I guess). It begins as comedy, then social and political commentary, murder whodunit, and existential evaluation. Growing up in a small western town made parts of the story even more endearing and slightly offensive. The Whataburger and football jokes are 100% true in the heartland of the USA. Thankfully, the lead character's judgmental tone when he first arrives in this tiny Texas town shifts as he develops respect and affection for the people he interviews and befriends. Vengeance tries to be many things and gets messy in parts where it tries to be a little too clever, but there are parts where it pulls it off as well. I enjoyed where the story ended as the lead finds purpose and family after facing the reality of his own emptiness, loneliness, and pretentiousness. I appreciate what this movie was trying to do with its pursuit of truth and meaning, but it probably tried a little too hard, leaving me with an unsatisfied feeling as the credits rolled.