Descent (2007)

So much potential, but becomes a completely squandered opportunity - Descent review by Timmy B

The portrayal and impact of rape has led to some of the most powerful and unforgettable films/portrayals ever put on screen. At it's best, you get films such as The Accused (propelling Jodie Foster's career into the stratosphere and garnering her the 1st of her Oscars,) or Elle (Isabelle Huppert giving one of the greatest screen performances I have ever seen.) But unfortunately there have also been some terrible films as a result. The tragedy with Descent is how good it starts, laying the groundwork for a powerful look at sexual assault, but then squanders that early promise.

Maya is a fresh-faced, confident student at an elite university. She is popular, well-liked and vivacious, throwing herself into frat parties and the social scene, partly to escape the bad memories of a recent breakup. One night, she is at a house party and meets Jared, a smooth-talking football player and letch. Whilst she at first rebuffs his advances, she agrees to a date, after which she ends up back at his. He then violently rapes her. The film then looks at how she rebuilds her life and plans her revenge.

For the first half an hour, this film is really good. The build-up, tension and horror is brilliant. The tone, which makes you feel uncomfortable from the first few minutes, is used expertly to ratchet up the tension. As it is highly unlikely someone would simply watch this film without knowing the story/subject matter, the wait leading up to what you know will be an extremely distressing attack is horrible. And, like other portrayals of rape in not only the aforementioned films but others such as Monster, it is visceral and deeply upsetting, made worse by the slew of racist bile he whispers to her.

And this continues on after the attack, showing how this has totally changed Maya, from how she isolates herself down to her body language. We really feel how this unspeakable attack has ripped her soul out and broken her. Whilst Jared continues on with his life, seen by everyone else as a cool guy instead of a disgusting rapist, Maya is left bereft.

At this point, you would expect the film/narrative to look at how she rebuilds herself. But after the powerful opening, the film totally loses its way and actually becomes quite boring.

We watch as Maya inhabits the club scene, slowly rediscovering herself. But it just doesn't gel and continue the compelling narrative of the first half. There is an attempt at metamorphosis, including Maya standing at the mirror trying to give herself encouragement, but it just falls flat. And then we are back to the college setting, where she lures Jared to a flat before exacting her violent revenge, with the help of one of her friends.

It is clear that what has happened is the writers/director (Rosario Dawson & Talia Lugacy) wanted to make something looking at the horror of rape and what justice could even look like after that. And they came up with the initial attack on Maya then the revenge attack against Jared. But the story in-between those 2 events just seems to have been written on the fly, which explains why the middle section of the film just feels like padding. After sitting through that for 40 minutes, it just kills the pace.

And the biggest tragedy of all is that Dawson is absolutely of the calibre of Foster, Huppert and Theron. With the right script, this could have been an absolutely phenomenal & provocative look at the effects of rape. But despite a great cast, including Chad Faust who deserve plaudits for his brave performance, the film just becomes a wasted opportunity.