Considering how much I enjoyed Becky, I am surprised that it took me this long to get around to the sequel. There didn't seem to be a lot of the main people returning behind the camera, but Lulu Wilson was back in the main role, which ensured I would eventually give it a watch. I'm glad I did. This sequel is a lot of fun, and I'd say that it's on a par with the first film.
A bit of time has passed since the events of the first film and Becky has been doing her best to lay low. She's moved between a number of foster homes, but is now settled with a woman named Elena (Denise Burse). Elena doesn't ask Becky too many questions, and Becky tries to act like someone happy to make a fairly normal life for herself. That all changes when a group of racist incels, part of a group called the Noble Men, start trouble in town though, and Becky refuses to put up with their attitude in a confrontation that kicks off a chain of events that will lead to a lot of pain and death.
Co-directed by Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote, with a story from the two of them shaped into screenplay form by Angel, The Wrath Of Becky makes a choice early on to remind us that Becky is an entertainingly cold-blooded psychopath. She can keep herself in check, just, by indulging in occasional daydreams of violence against those who piss her off, but it's glorious to watch things build and build to a point that allows her to start doing what she enjoys most. While this idea felt like a bit of a twist in the first film, the joy here comes from watching people push the buttons of someone that we know will eventually explode in absolutely spectacular fashion.
Wilson remains as good in the central role as she was in the first film, and arguably gets to have more fun thanks to the fact that the dark (aka fun) side of her character is visible for almost all of the runtime here. The rest of the cast work well in roles that only need them to be menacing for a short amount of time before clarifying that they're actually just dead (noble)men walking. They may think they're Proud Boys, but everyone else knows they're just inadequate man-babies, and they're played well by Michael Sirow, Aaron Dalla Villa, Angel (wearing a third hat that allows him to join in with the fun in front of the camera), and Courtney Gains. Seann William Scott is the leader of the group, and he also does good work, and Jill Larson manages to make a hell of an impact with her few minutes of screentime.
There are so many immensely satisfying moments in this that I just want to describe them all, but I won't. It's a real treat to watch, easily summarised as a young girl exacting revenge upon violent neo-Nazis, but feels especially heartening when we are surrounded by news and media that seems intent on refusing to call out the disturbing rise of these ideologies as they constantly mistake dangerous bothsidesism with fair and balanced reporting. It's perfectly okay to be intolerant of intolerance, it should be okay to call a neo-Nazi a neo-Nazi (especially if it walks like a neo-Nazi and talks like a neo-Nazi), and The Wrath Of Becky reminds everyone that it's always acceptable to punch any kind of Nazi in the face. In fact, it's almost a duty.
8/10
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