Blue Ruin (2013) - Surprisingly Bloody For a Film Without a Heart

Forgiveness is a miraculous thing. We should count ourselves lucky when we receive it, and make efforts to proffer it to others whenever applicable. Short of forgiveness, we are left with bitterness. Bitterness, when unattended, breeds resentment and anger. A world without forgiveness is a world without hope of healing, without hope of growth.

This is the realm in which Blue Ruin exists. A cold, caustic vision of humanity completely devoid of compassion. Perhaps its conception of the world is more perceptive and accurate than I'd like to admit. But regardless, it's not a world I enjoyed inhabiting.

Jeremy Saulnier's gritty indie revenge thriller is fraught with the kind of ugliness that decent people avert their eyes from. The film lacks a moral compass. It lacks a beating heart. We are not given a reason to side with its protagonist any more so than we may sympathize with any childish act of retaliation. When a kid breaks their schoolmate's pencil after having their own stolen, we don't condone their infantile behavior. We aim to correct it.

Blue Ruin deals with an entirely different stratosphere of malicious actions, to be sure. There is murder, and subsequent pursuit of revenge. But just as we refrain from aligning ourselves with the petty conduct of the child, we should similarly stop short of rooting for the violent, vengeful vagabond at the core of this heartless, seemingly purposeless piece of storytelling.

I recognize the filmic merit of Blue Ruin, and I don't seek to take any of its venerable quality away from it in that respect. It's gorgeously filmed by Saulnier himself, and surely served as marvelous demo reel material for him in his search for further work. Additionally, it's very well-acted, particularly by Macon Blair, Saulnier's childhood friend, who is impressive in the central role even if the character he is portraying lacks the depth and emotional nuance necessary to be a strong protagonist.

This is a film that has received ample praise since its 2013 release. I don't get it. For me personally, it felt like a contrived thriller with little thematic intention or profundity. It's a film that simply unfurls without a backbone to support its off-putting pallor. Its moments of tension are admittedly well-executed, but lack foundation in logic or narrative purpose.

I can't say I recommend Blue Ruin. I very much wanted to enjoy it, and it seemed to have every reason for me to fall in love with it. However, in reality, I simply wanted the grueling and joyless 90-minute experience to end.

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