Eye for an Eye: Horror Let Down by an Overreliance on Allegory

Colin Tilley made a name for himself during the last decade in the music video space, directing videos for pop stars and famous rappers. Some of his past work includes, the video for Nicki Minaj’s iconic ‘Anaconda,’ the impactful video for Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Alright,’ and several videos for Justin Bieber during his ‘Justice’ era. Experienced in directing big stars and massive sets, Tilley shift his sights to feature films with his directorial debut, Eye for an Eye. The film centers around Anna Reeves (Peak), an orphan from New York who lost her parents as a result of a car accident. From there, she moved to a small town in Florida to live with her grandmother, May (Merkerson), a blind woman who lost her vision earlier in her life. Once Anna is set up in her new home and befriends Shawn (Bennett) and Julie (Laken Giles), she found herself witness to a terrible act of violence that would hunt her down during the worst period of her life.

Tilley, usually attached to big-budget music videos with intricate visual effects and production design, travels from one world to another in tackling this smaller scale horror feature. When it comes to this film, the nature of the horror stems from the dangers of the countryside alongside the transition from the metropolis of New York City to a small town in Florida. In this sense, this narrow scope is essential to create its haunting atmosphere, borrowing from popular mythology through its use of the Sandman as the punisher for bullies. Mr. Sandman has the moral compass to penalize and discipline those who prey on the defenseless. Therefore, Tilley aims to balance the mythical, and the horrific materiality of change. Grief is the basis for trauma, pain, and reasoning to move to unknown lands, bringing unexplored consequences for attitudes, as well.

However, where Eye for an Eye suffers from the same issue as other so-called ‘post-horror’ films. The horror comes from the discourse, the necessity of delivering the content through metaphors to allude to its topics. In this sense, eye loss as the punishment for poor attitudes and death leans towards a more discursive territory instead of the horror format to fulfill its formula. The film focuses too much of its length on allegories that, for the most part, do not work. The Hammurabi code, also known as the Eye for an Eye law, proved to not be quite as impactful in the context of the film. That being said, Peak delivers solid work as a character that does not posses nearly enough development, making Anna not as fascinating for audiences. The film merely becomes a fatiguing exercise for an allegory about pain, trauma, and despair. Despite its interesting premise and Tilley’s experience behind the camera, both cannot overcome an uneven script.

In the end, Eye for an Eye may boast a good performance from Whitney Peak but it leans too much on allegory, instead of exploring horror conventions to deliver its commentary about death and punishment. Ultimately, director Colin Tilley’s considerable experience directing music videos is not enough to save his feature directorial debut from middling and tiresome territory.

*still courtesy of Vertical Entertainment*

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Pedro Lima

Brazilian film writer. He is also a producer and executive producer for Zariah Filmes. Member of the International Film Society Critics Association (IFSCA), International Documentary Association (IDA), and Gotham and Media Film Institute.