M.F.A. (a.k.a. Revenge Artist) is a 2017 American thriller film directed by Natalia Leite and written by Leah McKendrick. The film stars Francesca Eastwood, Clifton Collins Jr., Leah McKendrick, Peter Vack, David Huynh, Marlon Young, David Sullivan, Michael Welch and Mike Manning.
Noelle, a timid fine arts graduate student struggling with creativity, is violently raped by a fellow classmate. After attempting the traditional routes to cope with her trauma, she impulsively confronts her attacker - a decision that has deadly repercussions. Her world is turned upside down as a chilling reality is uncovered: she is one of many silenced sexual assault survivors on campus. A vigilante is born—retribution is the inspiration she's been waiting for.
Tropes in M.F.A:
- Accidental Murder: Noelle doesn't actually intend to kill her rapist. She just accidentally knocked him over the railing to his death when pushing him away. This inspires her to kill other rapists though.
- Asshole Victim: All of Noelle's victims are rapists. She herself invokes the idea, suggesting to Detective Kennedy that his skills could be better used solving crimes other than their murders.
- Bludgeoned to Death: Noelle beats one of her victims to death with a hammer in the change room at the football stadium.
- Clothing Combat: Noelle seduces one of her victims so he takes his belt off in expectation of sex, then she chokes him to death with it.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Noelle spikes Mason's drink with a date rape drug and then holds him down so he chokes on his own vomit, parodying what he did to Lindsey.
- Date Rape: This happens to Noelle when she goes on a date with her classmate, then into his dorm room where he forces himself on her. Her attempts to find some kind of justice set in motion the events that will turn her into a vigilante, hunting and killing those who have got away with rape or sexual assault.
- Death by Falling Over: Noelle shoves Luke away from her and he falls over the edge of the balcony to his death.
- Destroy the Evidence:
- Noelle burns Skye's suicide note where she claims to be the "Campus Killer" (the confession was false in any case).
- On a larger scale, we learn the campus administration has buried all rape reports so as not to look bad and keep their "clean" record.note
- Downer Ending: Noelle's lost her friend Skye to suicide, gotten arrested by the police, and will probably spend the rest of her life in prison for killing the rapists.
- Driven to Suicide: Upon discovering that her friend Noelle is the "Campus Killer", Skye cannot cope with the revelation and slits her wrists, claiming in a note that she's the culprit. Noelle is devastated by this.
- False Confession: Skye leaves behind a suicide note stating that she is the "Campus Killer". However, Noelle finds the note and destroys it before anyone else can see it.
- Foil: Detective Kennedy to Noelle. He doesn't agree with vigilantism, saying it could never be justified and even if her victims were rapists that doesn't excuse murdering them. Shane, on the other hand, is one for the rapists themselves. Unlike them he's nice, but even more, makes sure that Noelle is fully consenting while they're moving toward having sex. When she breaks things off (triggered by a flashback of her rape) and orders him to leave, he does this at once. Later he says it's unneeded when she apologizes.
- Full-Frontal Assault: Noelle attacks one of the football players while he is in the shower. However, her first blow does not incapacitate him as she thought it had, and he fights back completely naked, nearly getting the best of her due to his greater strength.
- Get Out!: Noelle orders Shane to leave after he unwittingly triggers her during their foreplay, bringing up memories of what her rapist had done. She apologizes later, but he clearly knows that she's been hurt somehow and is completely understanding.
- Girl on Girl Is Hot: In the party at the frat house, two girls are making out while the boys watching cheer and film them.
- Honey Trap: Noelle seduces most of her targets into getting in compromising positions so she can kill them.
- Initialism Title: M.F.A. stands for Master of Fine Arts, the degree Noelle is studying for.
- Inspector Javert: Detective Kennedy. He is not single-mindedly pursing Noelle per se, but is devoted to bringing in the Campus Killer and follows the evidence wherever it takes him, circling around the case until Noelle is the only suspect left. When she explains that the murdered men were rapists, he agrees that that they may have been, but a murder is a murder—regardless of who the victim is—and she does not have the right to inflict her own brand of justice. Ironically, if the original rapes had been brought to his attention, rather than being swept under the rug, he would undoubtedly have pursued the rapists with the same dogged determination and brought them to justice, thereby removing the need for Noelle's vigilante justice.
- Male Frontal Nudity: Courtesy of Mason as Noelle strips his corpse.
- murder.com: Not murder, but Noelle is horrified and disgusted to discover that a trio of rapists have posted footage of their crime on social media, shot from angles where it does not show their faces to allow them plausible deniability.
- Nice Guy: Shane is a very kind man who Noelle becomes attracted to. When she comes on to him, he's very solicitous of her and double-checks that she's sure about doing it. After he inadvertently triggers her with a memory of her rapist, he takes no offense at her ordering him to leave. When she apologizes later, he brushes it off, obviously aware she had a reason for acting in that way.
- A Party, Also Known as an Orgy: The party at the frat house is this, with semi-clad women and men grinding on each other.
- Police Are Useless: The campus cops at Balboa University certainly are. One of them allows Noelle to walk into the storeroom at police headquarters and walk out with confidential case files. The only crime they manage to stop is Noelle's attempt to murder Calvin, and the cop in question only discovers that because the girl who he was making out with points out the fresh blood stain on the ground. Detective Kennedy from the city police is a different kettle of fish and becomes an Inspector Javert in his pursuit of the Campus Killer.
- Punk in the Trunk: Noelle abducts Calvin by asking him to help change a tire. As he is bent over the trunk, Noelle stuns him by jamming a taser into his neck, then shoves him into the trunk and slams the lid.
- Rape as Backstory: We learn that another woman on campus, Lindsey, was gang-raped by frat boys around a year before what happened in the film. Skye was also raped, as Noelle discovers.
- Rape as Drama: Early on, Noelle's brutally raped by a classmate in his dorm room. Footage of Lindsey being gang-raped by frat boys is also seen, horrifying Noelle.
- Rape and Revenge: After being raped, Noelle confronts her attacker and accidentally kills him. This then awakens something within her, and she becomes a vigilante, hunting down and killing other sexual predators on campus.
- Self-Harm: Skye cuts herself, as Noelle finds upon finding her in the bathroom. It's unstated, but clearly implied she does so as a result of her trauma due to being raped. This also foreshadows Skye's later suicide by the same means, a razor blade.
- Serial Killer: Noelle becomes one after killing her own rapist by accident, killing others who went unpunished in various ways.
- Shear Menace: Noelle uses a pair of scissors to threaten Calvin when she has him taped to a chair in the gymnasium. When she is disturbed by a campus cop, she hurriedly stabs him in the neck with them. There is a gush of blood, but because she was rushed, he survives.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Noelle and Skye are both shown as traumatized by their rapes to different degrees. Skye cuts herself, and eventually it escalates to suicide. Noelle has painful flashbacks and is triggered by a memory of what her rapist did while engaging in consensual foreplay with another man.
- Shower of Angst: Not a shower, but after being raped by Luke, Noelle emotionlessly walks into the swimming pool at her apartment building fully clothed, and holds herself under the water for a very long time.
- Shower Scene: Noelle attacks one of the footballers while he is taking a shower after his training run.
- The Shrink: After being raped, Noelle visits the college counselor who seems sympathetic and understanding of her pain. However, she has a hidden agenda of dissuading girls from officially reporting attacks so the college can maintain its record of having no sexual assaults on campus.
- Slut-Shaming: Lindsey, a victim of gang rape, was branded as a slut, with people claiming she'd really engaged in consensual group sex with her rapists, and it's specifically noted many of those saying it were women, even some so-called friends. It was used to undermine her credibility while they were tried for raping her. All were acquitted, in part due to this.
- Staircase Tumble: Noelle tries to push Luke away from her at the stop of the stairs. He stumbles backwards, but instead of falling down the stairs, he goes off the edge of the balcony.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Noelle spikes the drink of one of the frat boy rapists with a date rape drug, then holds him down so he chokes on his own vomit.
- There Are No Therapists: Well, technically there is, but the college counselor has steered women who come to her who have been raped against filing complaints, thus her true concern isn't their mental health but making it seem like there are no campus rapes. Noelle quickly stops seeing her, realizing this.
- Trivial Title: M.F.A. refers to Master of Fine Arts, the degree Noelle is undertaking.
- The Vamp: After her rape and her Accidental Murder of Luke, Noelle reinvents herself as a vamp, using her newfound confidence to seduce sexual predators and luring them to their deaths.
- Vigilante Man: After accidentally killing her own rapist, Noelle becomes a vigilante, hunting down and killing sexual predators.
