Good for Her: The 5 Best Woman Getting Revenge Movies to Watch
The ‘good for her’ subgenre of film can be defined as a story with a female protagonist who, after being either traumatised, oppressed, or pushed too far, enacts cathartic revenge.
This revenge often falls into the moral grey area and is almost always incredibly violent, but does grant the woman something of a triumph over those who have wronged her.
The big issue with ‘good for her’ movies is that the mantle has become synonymous with one particular archetype — the rape/revenge. This narrative has become old and tired, and whilst on occasion, when handled correctly, it can work, it is far more interesting to see revenge stories that don’t feel the need to rely on the tired trope.
In more recent years the ‘good for her’ structure has broadened and now includes any story in which a wronged or put upon woman is able to claim back her agency. For those interested in seeking out some ‘good for her’ movies that don’t focus on the common trope, here are five films to start with.
Ari Aster’s Midsommar features one of the worst boyfriends in movie history. Played by Jack Reynor, Christian is a terrible partner for Florence Pugh’s Dani. From the moment he is introduced, it is clear that he actually wants nothing to do with her. In the wake of the death of her family, he is utterly useless, and despite having no desire for her to accompany him and his friends on their trip to Scandinavia, he begrudgingly lets her tag along, before sleeping with another woman upon arrival.
Dani is bereft at Christian’s treatment of her, and the discovery of his cheating is the final straw. Having been wholeheartedly welcomed into the new community, Dani is crowned the May Queen whilst Christian meets a horrific fate. Considering his treatment of Dani, the audience can’t help but join in with her eerie smile.
Directed by Park Chan-wook, Lady Vengeance follows Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy as the final film in his Vengeance trilogy. Although not connected, each film deals with similar themes of revenge and violence. The only one in the trilogy to feature a female protagonist, Lady Vengeance follows the formula usually reserved for male-led revenge movies. By changing genders, Lady Vengeance becomes more compelling than its counterparts, and features several story aspects that really get the viewer thinking.
In Lady Vengeance, Geum-ja is sent to prison for a crime she did not commit. Wrongly imprisoned for murder, Geum-ja spends her incarceration plotting her revenge. Upon her eventual release Geum-ja sets out to get retribution by hunting down and killing the real culprit. Super dark in content, Lady Vengeance is swaddled in malice, its oppressive constraint causing the audience to become as agitated as heroine Geum-ja, to the point where it’s hard not to cheer when the dastardly Mr. Baek is finally overthrown.
Whereas other ‘good for her’ stories are set across a wide expanse of time, Ready or Not happens over the course of one day. The day in question is not any average day, but the wedding day of young bride Grace. Lacking a family of her own, Grace can’t wait to marry into the Le Domas dynasty and finally have that familial connection. Grace’s plans, however, don’t go to plan and instead of spending her wedding night with her new husband, she finds herself playing a violent game of hide and seek with her in-laws. The rules are simple, if they kill her, they win and their demonic overlord will grant the family continued riches. Should Grace survive until dawn, their dynasty is over.
Ready or Not works as both a ‘good for her’ and an ‘eat the rich’ story, but it is the former that shines brightest. The reveal that her new husband knowingly brought her into this macabre game with no word of warning is devastating. As, too, is the realisation that the family deem her as less than them and utterly expendable. This only makes the explosive bloodbath of a finale all the sweeter, and Grace a girl that the audience can fully get behind.
When it comes to ‘good for her’ movies, Carrie was way ahead of its time. Rather than hone in on the tropey sexual assault hook – something that was already prevalent thanks to Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left – Carrie focused on the horror of high school. Based on the first novel by Stephen King, Carrie follows outsider Carrie White as she is brutally bullied by her classmates and vilified by her religious zealot mother. The savagery that Carrie has to endure, right from the movie’s opening in which the young girl gets her first period, is grotesque. That the viewer gets to follow her tormentors and realise that the group of teens are planning on humiliating Carrie at the high school prom, is agonising. This only serves to make her eventual vengeance that much sweeter.
What Carrie’s classmates do not know is that Carrie has developed telekinetic abilities and, after being covered in pig’s blood during her coronation as Prom Queen, she unleashes her wrath. Cue a violent onslaught of death and destruction that is as cathartic for the viewer as it is for Carrie. The biggest issue with Carrie is that she doesn’t survive her night of vengeance, although that jump scare ending might point to a different fate.
After having been left for dead on her wedding day, an assassin awakens from a coma four years later. Rightly angry and thirsty for revenge, the Bride then makes it her mission to kill her former boss, Bill. Before that, though, the Bride has to carve her way through her old teammates – the ones who carried out the attack on Bill’s orders.
Told across two volumes, Kill Bill is one of Quentin Tarantino’s better movies, thanks in no small part to the formidable Uma Thurman. For her role as the Bride, Thurman underwent rigorous training in a range of fighting disciplines including sword-fighting. The results speak for themselves, and despite all of the carnage the Bride is causing, and the amount of bodies she is slaying, the audience never stray from her side. The viewer is as invested in the Bride getting her vengeance as she is and the finale leaves you with a massive grin on your face. This is one girl that has worked exceptionally hard to ensure the ‘good for her’ moment and we can only hope that the rumoured third film never comes to pass or else the satisfaction of that ending could come unstuck.
