Directed by Valerie Weiss

Written by Casey Schroen

Starring Bailey Noble, Jeanine Mason, Michael Grant Terry, Bill Sage, Dendrie Taylor, Kyanna Simone Simpson, Alexis Rosinsky, and Timothy Granaderos

Damn, a lesbian action thriller that shows off the badassery of archery? Now this is the suspenseful substance that we need more of. As someone who’s taken precisely one archery lesson, which occurred on my 18th birthday, I do have an inclination towards the bows and arrows, and I’d like to return to that sport someday. But for now, I can let the tension of this primitive and deadly tool course through me via this movie that infuriates me numerous times thanks to the repugnant men who are lording over the inmates at a girls’ reform camp—a “camp” that’s actually far more of a prison. I’ll admit that there are points where I wonder if this film could afford to be subtler with its portrayal of these men and their pedophilic and misogynistic behavior. But even then, the movie still builds things up to a good old jab of satisfaction as it dishes out retribution against these mustache-twirling villains. Once we transition into the part of the plot where Lauren and Rebecca are sneaking around the wilderness, that’s where the movie amps up to another level of engagement—not that it was lacking engagement beforehand, but the time that we spend inside of the prison does come off like the type of material that we’ve seen on many previous occasions. Once we leave that cliched space behind, this tale is able to breathe more freely and get my blood pumping over our main teenagers attempting to weave their way around their captors. I appreciate what Bailey Noble and Jeanine Mason bring to these roles in order to ground them in a rootable grit, with Noble particularly benefitting from quite a few moments that show off her physical acting. There’s a determination that convincingly settles into her face and her eyes, helping us audiences easily believe in the resolution that she’s infusing into Lauren. I can look at this youth and confidently know that whatever prey is in her sights should be terrified that she’s their predator.

I realize that I’d expressed my criticism about the men in this twirling their mustache a little too much, but at the same time, I do give kudos to Bill Sage for committing to the malice of his part as the abusive father who’s sitting on his throne in this hellhole. It’s fascinating to realize he’s also the detestable coach from Mysterious Skin and David Van Patten from American Psycho. But yes, he commits to the evil, and so do the other dudes around him. The male characters can act so overtly gross, as a matter of fact, that they can distract from the systemic nature of the kids-for-cash issue. The corruption and bribery that’s used to ship off these youths and treat them like pawns for financial gain is something that we very much need to wrestle with in real life, and it goes to show how capitalistic and dehumanizing the prison industrial complex is. So I would have been all up for a bigger focus on this aspect, but the movie can get too caught up in the men and their blunt evil. Let’s try and balance things out for the awfulness on different levels, why don’t we? Let’s carve out some space for the loathsome men who view women as objects for them to use however they want, and then let’s nimbly craft a lens that offers up more fleshed-out commentary on the kids-for-cash machinations.

One more facet that I’ll comment on is the grisliness, which gets me wincing sometimes. Hooboy, those hand moments in particular are intense to witness. Sure, I do think this could have pushed itself into more imaginative and nasty territory with its archery-centered violence, and honestly, I wonder if this could have been improved by taking a tonal shift into horror. Ooh, now that’s where you can really escalate the thrills and the gore. But this does keep itself primarily in the action thriller mood, and you know what, it remains compelling there. I’m always up for humans hunting each other down in the wilderness, and that doesn’t change here in The Archer. Come on now, let’s get the ball rolling on more of these films that allow lesbians and sapphics to deploy their weaponry. And here’s a shout-out to The Archer for knowing how to tell its story with a lean 86-minute runtime. We can hop in and then hop right back out.

My final rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars