TIFF 2021: Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash
TIFF 2021Edwin’s Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash is the total package: a stylised genre mashup, a homage to 1980s Southeast Asian action flicks, and a gritty critique of toxic masculinity. The film nails its fight choreography and retro aesthetics but does lose its focus with all its attempting to accomplish.
Ajo Kawir (Marthino Lio) is a hired thug working in West Java, engaging in acts of machismo in an effort to prove he is still a man despite his struggles with impotence. Everyone in the district knows about Ajo’s condition, and he undergoes a variety of naturopathic remedies to fix his erectile dysfunction – like the application of leech oil and chilli paste to his nether regions – but its clear Ajo’s plight is due to something psychological. Despite this, Iteung (Ladya Cheryl) still chooses Ajo for her husband and their relationship is tested. Iteung, a bodyguard for Ajo’s latest target, and Ajo quickly fall in love over a series of cartoonish fights, their respect for one another growing with each exchanged blow. Iteung claims she is happy with Ajo but is led astray by her ex-lover.
The ever charismatic Ladya Cheryl absolutely steals the show as Iteung, she carries the weight of Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash on her shoulders with a great perm and denim jacket to boot. She embodies the classic martial arts heroine while putting her own spin on the character. She is feisty, packs a punch, and is frankly magnetic as Iteung. Unlike Lio, who lacks the romantic chops, Cheryl brings an emotional rawness to Iteung, delivering on Edwin’s subversions of rom-com tropes such as meet-cutes and love triangles.
There are a number of other meandering plots that are shoved into Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash. Edwin and co-writer Eka Kurniawan, who is the author of the novel the film is based on, bite off more than they can chew in the film’s runtime. While the mishmash of genres from melodrama, to action, to even supernatural adds to the fast-paced of the script, not every storyline is given its fair chance to blossom. Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash is at its best when it is a campy action flick. The fight choreography starts off cartoonish and becomes more realistic as the film presses on and shifts towards heavier themes. Lio is also at his best when the film is exploring toxic masculinity, as he makes his character Ajo vulnerable underneath his anger and frustrations stemming from his insistence on being a man. The film’s ghostly storyline lacks the most, as it comes far too late in the script to be truly effective.
Overall, Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash is a sharp critique of masculinity and a unique spin on a variety of genres with memorable characters. Featuring everything from romance, to the supernatural, to martial arts, Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash is a rollercoaster that takes one too many turns but is still worth getting on for the thrill of the ride.