This is not the british horror movie that also goes by the name/title Descent! It also is anything but decent - in more ways than one. And it is a movie that will not be for the faint hearted or easily offended. The beginning alone might be too much for you - and it is a theme I personally do not like see explored - even in a fictional way. Although clearly this is a message and unfortunately still a truth that exists in the world, whether we like to admit it or not.
And it also ends in a place that will be hard to stomach. But as others have stated - and whether they liked the movie or its theme and more importantly its execution (no pun intended) and the morality of it in the end: there is a lot of running time that unfortunately is not doing much. And I don't mean it literally (although that is also true),but in the sense that it seems stuck. And while that is something that could work for the theme, it does not work with the tone of the movie that is all over the place.
I really like Rosario Dawson and I think no one will dismiss her as artist and an actress - but even she can't save the movie. Good intentions (if you want to call them that) be damned - it just doesn't work ... other than for the shock factor - which to be fair is one of the main goals. In that it does succeed ... but that is only a small part of it all. And could have been told in a short movie - in a way better fashion. Because there is not enough to maintain a stable pace and have this be feature length movie.
Let's hope this review will stay - the orignal one I did somehow got deleted - I am guessing by accident. Anyhow, I understand if you feel differently - you may be more leniant in respect to what I would call a movie filled with flaws and just be intrigued by the (social) message the movie tries to deliver ... as much as it did surely shock people who watched it, it did not achieve changing the root problem it adresses ... unfortunately.
Descent
2007
Action / Drama / Thriller
Descent
2007
Action / Drama / Thriller
Plot summary
In the winter of her senior year, Maya talks to Jared at a frat party, accepts his invitation to dinner at a nice restaurant, then goes to his apartment, just to talk. He assaults her. Her personality changes, she's withdrawn; she graduates and takes a job at a clothing store, staying apart from co-workers. At night, she's someone else: a beauty at the club scene, dancing, seductive, sniffing cocaine, becoming the friend of a heavy hitter. She thinks about her racial identity. That fall, she's a grad student, and Jared is in an exam she proctors. She invites him to her apartment; he's certain she's stuck on him.
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Rosario Dawson gets lost, in more ways than one
Rosario Dawson stars as a girl who is date raped and then begins a decent into darkness until given a chance at revenge. While its clear why Dawson took the role, its a chance to show her acting chops and to make a small independent, decidedly un-Hollywood film, its also clear that aside from stunning good looks, Dawson seems out of place in the role. Forgive me I simply couldn't find her. Thats not a mistake, thats how I felt, I had no idea where she was. Yes I know she's on the screen but even though I spent the better part of two hours looking at her she left no impression on me whats so ever. I blame the script for this since other than the ending, not a whole heck of a lot that happened on screen seemed to make any real sense. The people seemed to be more posture than real and what happens didn't seem to fit together. Forgive me for being vague but nothing in this film, other than the end (which I would love to talk about but can't cause it would spoil it),and the image of Rosario Dawson as nothing more than an image, stayed with me.What can I say, this may click with you, it may not, for me it's time I can't get back. For Rosario Dawson fans only, though be warned there's several real reasons why this is NC17. (And Rosario- please, you're a better actress, pick better scripts)
Revenge is not always sweet
This is a sandwich film. There is something on both ends, but the middle is a disappointment. So, what you get is a 15-20 minute film that lasts over a hundred. This is particularly painful as the lighting was atrocious, and the sound was weak.
Maya (the lovely Rosario Dawson) is date-raped and descends into a sort of depressive state that leads to alcohol and drugs. That's the whole middle of the film where she ends up moody and club hopping until she decides to get her life together and go back to graduate school. It is there as a teaching assistant, that she confronts the rapist (Chad Faust) again, and, it appears, that she is going to resume the relationship like nothing ever happened.
Surprise! She has something else in mind. She enlists the aid of Marcus Patrick to get her revenge. The setup is sweet, but the actual revenge borders on pornographic. Just as the rape was brutal, so was the ending.
No, despite two sex scenes, you see nothing of Rosario.