Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 19, 2026

Prevenge

Prevenge is a 2016 British comedy slasher film written by, directed by and starring Alice Lowe in her directorial debut. The film also stars Kate Dickie, Kayvan Novak, Jo Hartley, Mike Wozniak, Gemma Whelan and Tom Davis. The plot follows a pregnant widow who is convinced her foetus is compelling her to embark on a killing spree as revenge for the death of her husband.

Last revised
Jun 19, 2026
Read time
≈ 5 min
Length
1,192 w
Citations
16
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Prevenge
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAlice Lowe
Written byAlice Lowe
Produced by
  • Alice Lowe
  • Vaughn Sivell
  • Jennifer Handorf
  • Will Kane
Starring
CinematographyRyan Eddleston
Edited byMatteo Bini
Music byToydrum
Production
companies
  • Western Edge Pictures
  • Gennaker Group
  • Ffilm Cymru Wales
Distributed byKaleidoscope Entertainment2
Release dates
  • 15 May 2016 (2016-05-15) (Cannes)1
  • 10 February 2017 (2017-02-10) (United Kingdom)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£80,000
Box office$103,8853

Prevenge is a 2016 British comedy slasher film written by, directed by and starring Alice Lowe in her directorial debut. The film also stars Kate Dickie, Kayvan Novak, Jo Hartley, Mike Wozniak, Gemma Whelan and Tom Davis. The plot follows a pregnant widow who is convinced her foetus is compelling her to embark on a killing spree as revenge for the death of her husband.

Principal photography mainly took place in Cardiff in under two weeks, whilst Lowe was herself pregnant.45 The film was released in cinemas in February 2017.6 Before the film was released, Lowe gave birth to a baby girl, Della, who was able to portray Ruth’s newborn in the film, at ten days old.

Plot

After her husband dies in a climbing accident when he was cut loose by the rest of his group, Ruth, now heavily pregnant, becomes convinced that her foetus is compelling her to murder and she tracks down the other people who were involved in the climbing accident for revenge. Her first victim is the owner of a reptile shop, whom she kills by slitting his throat. When her midwife tells her that the baby will let her know what’s good for her, Ruth reveals that she thinks that her baby is already telling her what to do.

Between several midwife appointments, Ruth kills people including her second victim who is a DJ whom she fakes drinking with at a bar and when they get back to his place, she slashes his femoral artery as well as cutting off one of his testicles. She then meets with a lawyer pretending to be applying for a job. After the lawyer tells her she needs to sort out her own life with the pregnancy, she walks over and kisses the lawyer then proceeds to slam her head onto the table before slitting her throat. While researching the climbing instructor Tom, she joins him at his rock-climbing gym. He tells her he can't teach her to climb as she is still pregnant, and he doesn't want to be held liable. On her way home, she collapses in a tunnel in severe pain.

Ruth then meets Josh, a man she pretends to be interested in renting a room in a flat from. His overwhelming kindness surprises her as she noticeably as doubts about killing him. She appears to get up, potentially to give up on her plot when his flatmate Zac comes home and appears to recognize her, she attacks him and drives a statue through his eye as he shouts, "It wasn't me!" before knocking over Josh and killing him too for being a witness. While she's attempting to kill Len, she's punched in the stomach when Len defends herself. This gives Ruth the opportunity to stab Len to death before the police arrive, Ruth is forced to climb out of the dog door to escape. Her midwife assures her that her baby is healthy.

On one of her last attempts, Ruth suffers a life-threatening emergency regarding her baby. Her baby thus is delivered quickly via emergency caesarean section. Several days after the surgery, Ruth is quite depressed but soon realises that her baby is just a normal baby girl, not a psychopathic baby. The midwife tried to reassure Ruth that everything is going to be okay and goes off to get the health assistant to help Ruth with her feelings. Ruth takes this time to kiss her baby goodbye and go off to the cliffs to kill one last time.

Cast

Reception

Prevenge received positive reviews for its blend of black comedy and horror. It holds a rating of 91% on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.7 The site's consensus reads, "As ambitious as it is daringly transgressive, Prevenge should thrill fans of pitch black horror comedy - and open untold opportunities for writer/director/star Alice Lowe." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 71 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.8

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film four out of five, calling it "gruesomely successful".9 Mark Kermode, also for The Guardian, gave the film four out five and called it an "impressively peculiar film".10

Jeanette Catsoulis of The New York Times calling the film "a brilliantly conceived meditation on prepartum anxiety and extreme grief".11 Guy Lodge of Variety called the film "a scrappy but excitingly singular directorial debut".12 David Ehrlich of IndieWire who gave the film a B− but felt the film could have used more time "in utero".13

Less effusive was Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com gave the film one and a half, saying that it is "a gonzo idea in search of better execution".14

Accolades

Award Date Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
British Independent Film Awards 4 December 2016 The Douglas Hickox Award Alice Lowe Nominated 15
Monster Fest 29 November 2016 Monster Innovation Award Won 16
References

References

  1. "Goes to Cannes 2016" (PDF). Marché du Film. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  2. Grater, Tom (8 September 2016). "Kaleidoscope swoops for comedy-horror 'Prevenge'". Screen Daily. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  3. "Prevenge (2016)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  4. "Prevenge: Alice Lowe on Murder, Cardiff & Making a Human". Raising Films. 22 February 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  5. "Leila Hoffman stars in the new British comedy slasher film Prevenge". Sainou Talent Agency. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  6. Bradshaw, Peter (1 September 2016). "Prevenge review – a mother of a serial-killer film". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  7. "Prevenge". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  8. "Prevenge". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
  9. Bradshaw, Peter (1 September 2016). "Prevenge review – a mother of a serial-killer film". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  10. Kermode, Mark (12 February 2017). "Prevenge review – audacious horror from a mother of invention". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  11. Catsoulis, Jeanette (22 March 2017). "Review: 'Prevenge,' Orchestrated by a Fiendish Fetus". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 March 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  12. Lodge, Guy (31 August 2016). "Film Review: 'Prevenge'". Variety. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  13. Ehrlich, David (23 March 2017). "'Prevenge' Review: A Wicked Slasher About A Killer Fetus, Starring A Very Pregnant Alice Lowe". IndieWire. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  14. Abrams, Simon (24 March 2017). "Prevenge". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  15. "2016 - BIFA". British Independent Film Awards. 2016-10-24. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
  16. "MONSTER FEST Announces 2016 Award Winners". Monster Fest 2016. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
External links