Reversal
Sundance Film Festival
Director: José Manuel Cravioto


In a typical female hostage thriller scenario, the heroine eventually frees herself from her predicament and slaughters her captor. Roll credits. However, director José Manuel Cravioto turns that clichéd setup on its head with the shocking story of Eve (Tina Ivlev) who finds herself imprisoned by Phil (Richard Tyson). But rather than spending the running time chained to the wall, Eve immediately smashes a brick across Phil’s face and frees herself. While freedom is just around the corner, Eve decides to reverse the roles and forces Phil to disclose the location of other victims. It’s rare in today’s films —especially in the horror genre — where a female character takes command and controls the destiny and it’s an absolute delight to witness. Cravioto takes the audience on a grotesque venture of sex trafficking and Stockholm syndrome as Eve discovers the harsh realities of her community’s underbelly. While the film visually showcases the unsympathetic demise of the disgusting male antagonists, the underwhelming conclusion of the chief villain leaves one craving a tad more vigilante justice.   -Jimmy Martin

Screening Times:

Time: Tuesday, Jan. 27 @ 11:45 p.m. Venue: Library Center Theatre, Park City

Time: Thursday, Jan. 29 @ 2:45 p.m. Venue: Egyptian Theatre, Park City