Film Review – M.F.A.

The timing for the release of “M.F.A.” couldn’t be better, presented to filmgoers during a difficult time of debate and frustration over the subject of sexual assault, especially pertaining to the silencing of victims for the betterment of assailants. New frontiers of understanding have been achieved though efforts such as Kirby Dick’s “The Hunting Ground,” and “M.F.A.” certainly has focus when it comes to the depiction of shame and fear facing those who’ve been brutalized and have no path to justice. Screenwriter Leah McKendrick and director Natalia Leite (“Bare”) shape a provocative story of simmering rage and encroaching depression, but they make a deliberate choice to transform the endeavor into an exploitation movie, using graphic depictions of revenge to offer some level of catharsis. It doesn’t always feel like the right choice for an otherwise clear-eyed view of systemic suppression.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com