Random Acts of Violence (film)

Random Acts of Violence is a 2019 slasher horror film based on the 2010 comic of the same name by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray. The film is produced and directed by Jay Baruchel, who wrote the screenplay with Jesse Chabot, and stars Jesse Williams, Jordana Brewster, and Baruchel. The film follows Todd Walkley (Williams), a comic book creator whose works are used as inspiration for a string of real-life murders.

Random Acts of Violence
Official poster
Directed byJay Baruchel
Produced by
  • Jay Baruchel
  • Randy Manis
  • Noah Segal
Screenplay by
Based on
Starring
Music by
CinematographyKarim Hussain[2]
Edited byAndrew Gordon Macpherson[1]
Production
company
Distributed by
  • Elevation Pictures (Canada)
  • Shudder (United States)
Release date
  • September 19, 2019 (2019-09-19) (Fantastic Fest)
  • July 31, 2020 (2020-07-31) (Canada)
  • August 20, 2020 (2020-08-20) (United States)
Running time
80 minutes[1]
Country
  • Canada
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3.5 million[4]

The film has been in development since 2011 when Baruchel and Chabot were first hired to adapt the screenplay. Attempts to begin production failed several times in subsequent years; principal photography took place between August 2018 and September 2018.

The film debuted at the 2019 Fantastic Fest on September 19, 2019. It was released by Elevation Pictures in Canada on July 31, 2020, followed by a release in the United States on August 20, 2020, by Shudder. The film received polarizing reviews from critics, who both praised and criticized the violent visuals, messages, and special effects.

Premise

Todd Walkley (Jesse Williams) and his publisher Ezra (Jay Baruchel) made their careers crafting a comic book based on a real-life serial killer called Slasherman. On a press tour to announce the launch of their final issue, they visit the town where Slasherman wreaked havoc twenty years earlier. Upon their arrival, a series of new murders unfold… murders that look eerily familiar to imagery in Todd's Slasherman comics. Speculation and paranoia build regarding the identity of the mysterious killer.

— Fantastic Fest[1]

Cast

Production

Development

Writing partners Jay Baruchel and Jesse Chabot were provided a copy of the one-shot comic Random Acts of Violence in 2010.[7] They met with publisher Kickstart Comics about a separate project,[7] and were later hired to write the film adaptation in May 2011.[8][9] Comic co-writer Jimmy Palmiotti praised the hiring, and also said that "having [Baruchel] also star in it would be a super bonus", suggesting him for either of the lead roles.[10][11]

The project was not discussed publicly again until a January 2015 interview, where Baruchel revealed that financing and casting had been completed and that he was attempting to film the project that year. He also said that he "might get to direct that this year as well" and announced various crew members, including editor Jason Eisener, cinematographer Bobby Shore, make-up artist Paul Jones, and composer Matthew Good.[12] In a 2019 interview, Baruchel credited Eisener for pushing him to direct the film.[7]

Filming

In July 2018, Jesse Williams, Jordana Brewster, and Niamh Wilson were announced to lead the cast. Williams was cast as Todd Walkley, the creator of the fictional comic character Slasherman. Brewster will portray his girlfriend Kathy, Wilson will play his assistant Aurora, and Baruchel was also confirmed to be starring as Todd's best friend Ezra.[13] By August 2018, principal photography had begun in Toronto and lasted until September 2018.[14] According to Baruchel, filming lasted for "technically 20, but really 19 days" and included shoots in Hamilton, Ontario.[7]

Post-production

By October 2018, Baruchel was working on editing the film,[15] balancing his time between an editing suite set up in his basement and promotion of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.[16] In a February 2019 interview, Baruchel gave more insight on the film by stating, "We’re trying our best to give the world something interesting and unique and legitimately scary. So it goes very hard and hopefully, if we’ve done our jobs, it’ll have something to say about the genre itself. It’s a horror flick that has as much of a brain as a set of fangs to it. I think it should f**k people up, but also leave them thinking about a bunch of sh*t – that’s the goal."[17] In a May 2019 interview, Baruchel said "[he is] currently in post-production on the film; hopefully its scary and ruins people's ability to dream normally."[18] Post-production concluded on August 13, 2019.[19]

Release

Random Acts of Violence premiered at the 2019 Fantastic Fest on September 19, 2019.[7][20][21] Elevation Pictures released the film in Canada on July 31, 2020, before debuting it on Shudder in the United States on August 20, 2020.[22][23][24]

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 55% based on 69 reviews, and an average rating of 5.60/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Random Acts of Violence falls short as an intelligent analysis of its themes, but viewers looking for chance instances of brutality won't be let down".[25] At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on eight critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[26]

After its premiere at the 2019 Fantastic Fest, the film garnered positive reviews. Trace Thurman, of Bloody Disgusting, gave the film three stars out of five, praising the violence in the film, describing them as "brutal and merciless".[27] Hazem Fahmy, of Film Inquiry, praised "the timely message" and the way the film delivers its central theme.[28] Amelia Emberwing, of Birth.Movies.Death., praised the film as "quick, bloody and brimming with some genuinely solid special effects".[29] Matthew Monagle, of The Playlist, gave the film a grade B−, also praising the violence and the film's commentary on the media.[30] Michael Gingold, of Rue Morgue, praised the film's "potent meta look at the genre".[31]

Conversely, Chris Knight, of National Post, gave a negative review, criticizing the violence and "the lack of humor".[32] Roger Moore, of Movie Nation, also gave a negative review, criticizing the film for "not doing much more than stumble and angst-out from one killing to the next".[33] Josh Bell, of Comic Book Resources, felt that the film "seems contemptuous of horror fans".[34] Cath Clarke, of The Guardian, described it as an "exasperating serial killer-slasher".[35] Brian Tallerico, of RogerEbert.com, took issue with the film thinking "it's saying something about gratuitous violence and exploitation of real tragedy but is even more hypocritically hollow than the films it purports to criticize".[36]

References
  1. Random Acts of Violence at Fantastic Fest
  2. Gingold, Michael (July 30, 2019). "Exclusive Comments: Jay Baruchel Commits "Random Acts Of Violence"". Rue Morgue. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  3. Keslassy, Elsa (May 13, 2019). "Cannes: SND Launches Sales on Berenice Bejo-Vincent Cassel Starrer 'A Friendly Tale' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  4. Schaefer, Stephen (February 19, 2019). "Jay Baruchel ready for life after 'Dragon'". Boston Herald. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  5. White, Peter (August 15, 2018). "Grey's Anatomy's Jesse Williams & 'Fast & Furious' Jordana Brewster To Star In Jay Baruchel's 'Random Acts Of Violence'". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  6. Knight, Chris (February 20, 2019). "Jay Baruchel couldn't help but let his Canadian accent shine through in the 'How to Train Your Dragon' trilogy". National Post. Postmedia Network. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  7. Cleo Yap, Audrey (September 19, 2019). "Jay Baruchel Talks New Horror Flick 'Random Acts of Violence,' Premieres First Clip (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  8. Kit, Borys (May 4, 2011). "Jay Baruchel Ramps Up Writing Career With Two Projects (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Valence Media. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  9. Bettinger, Brendan (November 20, 2013). "Jay Baruchel to Write 'Random Acts of Violence' and 'Exorcism Diaries'". Collider. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  10. Wigler, Josh (May 16, 2011). "'Random Acts of Violence' Creator Jimmy Palmiotti Discusses Jay Baruchel's Big-Screen Adaptation". MTV News. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  11. Wigler, Josh (March 4, 2010). "Palmiotti & Gray Commit 'Random Acts of Violence'". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  12. Foutch, Haleigh (January 28, 2015). "Jay Baruchel Looking to Direct 'Random Acts of Violence' this Year". Collider. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  13. Trenholm, Richard (February 23, 2019). "How to Train Your Dragon star swaps Hollywood for Canadian horror". CNET. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  14. Oh, Sheryl (August 17, 2018). "'Goon 2' Director Jay Baruchel Sets an Indie Horror Film as His Sophomore Effort". Film School Rejects. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  15. Ahearn, Victoria (October 30, 2018). "Jay Baruchel on the state of hockey in Canada, says NHL is 'boring'". National Post. The Canadian Press. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  16. Wigney, James (December 29, 2018). "How To Train Your Dragon star Jay Baruchel talks Hiccup, horror movies and his love of hockey". Herald Sun. Retrieved January 22, 2019. (subscription required)
  17. Starkey, Adam (February 15, 2019). "How To Train Your Dragon's Jay Baruchel wants to make a Hitman movie: 'They tried it and they're cr*p'". Metro. DMG Media. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  18. Foutch, Haleigh (May 20, 2019). "Watch: Jay Baruchel & Dean DeBlois Pitch a 'How to Train Your Dragon' Multiverse". Collider. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  19. Baruchel, Jay [@BaruchelNDG] (August 14, 2019). ""I am beyond proud to announce that yesterday was the final day of post production on RANDOM ACTS OF VIOLENCE. 8 years ago @jessechabot and I wrote the very first treatment and now here we finally are with a finished product that we are honoured to show the world."" (Tweet). Retrieved November 15, 2019 – via Twitter.
  20. Hemmert, Kylie (September 20, 2019). "Random Acts of Violence Clip Released for Jay Baruchel's New Slasher Film". Coming Soon. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  21. Burwick, Kevin (September 21, 2019). "First Random Acts of Violence Clip Has Jay Baruchel on the Road to a Horror Con". MovieWeb. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  22. "Random Acts of Violence". Elevation Pictures. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  23. "Exclusive: Sneak peeks at all the summer movies you'll want to stream in quarantine". USA Today. June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  24. Squires, John (July 10, 2020). "Meet Slasherman in Jay Baruchel's Shudder Slasher 'Random Acts of Violence' [Trailer]". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  25. "Random Acts of Violence (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  26. "Random Acts of Violence Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  27. Thurman, Trace (September 30, 2019). "[Fantastic Fest Review] 'Random Acts of Violence' is a Brutal and Merciless Slasher from Jay Baruchel". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  28. Fahmy, Hazem (September 29, 2019). "Fantastic Fest 2019: Random Acts of Violence: A Haunting Indictment Of Male Writers' Culpability". Film Inquiry. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  29. Emberwing, Amelia (September 26, 2019). "Fantastic Fest Review: Random Acts of Violence Wants To Have A Conversation". Birth.Movies.Death. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  30. Monagle, Matthew (September 20, 2019). "'Random Acts Of Violence': Jay Baruchel Dials Up The Gore In His Treatise On Media Violence [Fantastic Fest Review]". The Playlist. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  31. Gingold, Michael (July 30, 2020). "Movie Review: "Random Acts of Violence" is Purposeful and Potent". Rue Morgue. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  32. Knight, Chris (August 4, 2020). "Life imitates art in Jay Baruchel's dark horror". National Post. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  33. Moore, Roger (August 10, 2020). "Movie Review: Jay Baruchel steps behind the camera for a slasher comic adaptation, "Random Acts of Violence"". Movie Nation. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  34. Bell, Josh (August 17, 2020). "Jay Baruchel's 'Random Acts of Violence' Lives up to Its Title". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  35. Clarke, Cath (August 19, 2020). "'Random Acts of Violence' review – exasperating serial killer-slasher". The Guardian. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  36. Tallerico, Brian (August 20, 2020). "'Random Acts of Violence' Review". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
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