[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eye_for_an_eye_1996.jpeg]]

''Eye for an Eye'' is a 1996 thriller film directed by Creator/JohnSchlesinger, starring Creator/SallyField, Creator/EdHarris, and Creator/KieferSutherland.

Karen [=McCann=] (Field) and her husband Mack (Harris) find their happy lives shattered when their 17-year-old daughter Julie is raped and murdered at home by deliveryman Robert Doob (Sutherland) while on the phone with her mother.

When Doob is released due to mishandled evidence, he starts making overtures to the [=McCann=]s' six-year-old daughter Megan while also intimidating Karen, who joins a vigilante group to defend herself.


Not to be confused with ''Film/AnEyeForAnEye1966'' or ''Film/AnEyeForAnEye1981''.

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!!''Eye for an Eye'' provides examples of the following tropes:
* AssholeVictim: The movie is about a mother who hears her daughter raped and murdered by a grocery deliverer while talking to her on the cell phone, who gets off on a technicality, and decides to kill him.
* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: Robert Doob, an unapologetic rapist and murderer, is shown being mean to dogs.
* ForcedToWatch: When Karen [=McCann=] is on the phone with her 17-year-old daughter Julie, she is forced to hear as Robert Doob rapes and murders her.
* HollywoodLaw: The undercover agent who threatens Karen with life in prison if she kills Doob. In reality, Karen would probably get off completely or lightly, courtesy of an endless range of potential jurors -- and even some law enforcement -- who'd sympathize with her. Justified as the agent is attempting to intimidate her into giving up the idea and correctly states the punishment rather than practicality.
* InnocentSwearing: Robert teaches Megan the classic "Tough titty said the kitty, but the milk's still good" line, which she later repeats.
* OffOnATechnicality: Karen seeks her own kind of justice on him after he gets off on a technicality. The tagline of the movie is "What do you do when justice fails?" In RealLife, at the very least, the killer's constant making faces at Karen would earn him a bunch of "contempt of court" charges.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: This drama starts with Karen [=McCann=] talking with her home alone teenage daughter over the phone when the slime bucket Robert Doob breaks into the house and all Karen can do is listen as Doob rapes her daughter before killing her. Then the scum gets off scot-free and threatens her even younger daughter.
* PoliceAreUseless: Not only do they repeatedly fail via OffOnATechnicality to stop Doob, but they even [[spoiler:put more effort into stopping the '''''vigilantes'''''.]]
* SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou: [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5b/Eye_for_an_Eye_%281996_film%29_poster.jpg Karen McCann is about to shoot you]].
* SelfDefenseRuse: After a violent rapist is let OffOnATechnicality, the MamaBear of the young woman he raped and killed is approached by a group that teaches people how to commit [[VigilanteExecution vigilante executions]] and make them look like self-defense. The rest of the film revolves around the mother goading the man to come get her so she can commit said "self-defense".
* VigilanteMilitia: Karen stumbles onto a conspiracy of Vigilante Men at a support group. They have very specific requirements: they only target killers whose guilt is obvious yet get OffOnATechnicality, and they won't make the kill for someone else. Instead, they teach newcomers how to make the hit themselves. Something of a strawman case; [[spoiler:the FBI has recognized a pattern of suspicious deaths among acquitted killers and has planted spies in support groups to track down the vigilantes. Karen discovers the spy in time to keep from incriminating herself seriously, but the agent still threatens Karen with life in prison despite being fully aware that the killer she's after has killed again. Ultimately, the FBI is powerless to protect the killer, as Karen pulls off the conspiracy's plan perfectly - make herself the killer's next target, then kill him in self-defense.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: After raping and murdering Julie, Doob begins making overtures at Karen's six-year-old daughter Megan.
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