This one wasn't easy for me to sit through, but in the end, it was well worth the watch.

Very good performance by Orlando Bloom, as well as by Charlie Creed-Miles.

They should have stuck with the title "ROMANS" because a certain passage in that part of the New Testament is really the central theme of the story, at least it was for me.

Most movies are easily forgettable, but not this one. I'm thinking about it long after watching.

It was as if he had 'grown up' and become some whole other being. There is not one misstep in this film. Every aspect of victimhood, ptsd, self-harm, sexuality, denial, help, healing, recovery, friendship, love, hate, anger, debt, discovery is revealed in a natural, realistic manner. Orlando's work is incredible. The writing is incredible. And ultimately the true horror turns out not to have been where you thought it was at all, but somewhere even worse, even more cruel and complex.

"Retaliation" (a.k.a., "Romans") is a throwback to the "kitchen sink" drama of the late 1950s and '60s. A gritty realism envelops the main character of Malcolm ("Malky") who is dealing with the primal element of rage. Much like John Osborne's Jimmy Porter in "Look Back in Anger," Malky is raging against the world. But he is also doing untold harm to himself as he is tormented by a nemesis that has haunted his life since the age of twelve.

A popular priest has returned after an absence of nearly three decades, and the priest is the catalyst for Malky's recent episodes of acting out. On the receiving end of his anger is his loving girlfriend Emma, his best friend Joe whom he kept from going to prison by taking the fall, and his self-centered mum, who worked as a charwoman at the church where Malky was abused. The mother never listened to her son when he needed her the most, and died before she could hear his confessional twenty-five years after the fact.

Ironically, Malky works in the demolition of churches, and a defining moment in the film occurs when Malky glimpses his mum walking with the priest. Malky then goes ballistic in knocking Joe unconscious without any seeming cognizance of what he has done and goes on a self-destructive rampage.

A turning point for Malky is when he comes across his mum's Bible opened to Romans 12:20: "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." One of the most interesting characters in the film is Paul, who may or may not be real. But he imparts to Malky the therapeutic technique of recording the truth on cassette tapes as many times as needed to expunge the poison. At the same time, Paul offers the wisdom of understanding that "no one can escape the consequences of his own actions."

Orlando Bloom has come a long ways as an actor in a riveting performance of Malky. And the filmmakers captured the essence of kitchen sink drama in an unforgettable portrayal of a guiltless soul with an unspeakable cross to bear.