Becky vs. the Nazis.

It’s been three years since we talked about Becky, meaning it’s been long enough that I’m ready to go down this path yet again.

Lulu Wilson is back as Becky, now a professional runaway living off the grid ever since the death of her father in the first movie. Becky is living with Elena (Denise Burse) and her doggo Diego (Pac Williams). Yes, that dog has an acting credit. Trying to put her life behind her from the first film, Becky’s life is once again flipped turned upside down when a group of neo-Nazis roll into town and after an altercation break into her house, knock her out, and steal her dog. Make your lady John Wick jokes now.

Becky is very clearly a different film to its predecessor, being directed this time by Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote, also written by the two. It’s always nice to see directors improving on their trade, given the last film we saw from both directors was The Open House which was the cinematic equivalent of swamp ass.

FYI; El doggo does not get killed off in this film. Just for those of you who refuse to watch a film that might kill an animal for shameless emotional shock value. Following them back to their base, Becky learns that the group plans on murdering Senator Hernandez the following day. Stealing their list of members, Becky twists the movie to become the hunter from the beginning. Can the Noble Men survive? I hope not.

The Noble Men, an obvious stand-in for the real life Proud Boys, is headed by Darryl Jr., played by none other than Seann William Scott. Much like Kevin James in the first movie, you might be forgiven for thinking Scott wouldn’t be a good fit for this film. But he does a great job playing the role of a psychopath. Scott has a fantastic intensity to him, being both quietly intimidating and able to command the room when needed.

He also feels very human when he needs to be. I like that Darryl’s first reaction before he even knows that Becky is a psychotic killing machine is to tell the guys to just give her her dog back because they have bigger things going on. Bigger things being an insurrection of course.

Aaron Dalla Villa plays DJ, who seems typecast as the snively weasel. Matt Angel plays Matt Angel, a nervous guy whose job is to throw up a lot and the guy who probably should have never joined in. Courtney Gains is here as Twig and it’s been a long time since Children of the Corn. I love Courtney Gains. I’m sure he’s a fine person in real life, but his ridiculous face makes him perfect to play a skeezy villain in any movie he happens to show up in. I would have liked to see more from Anthony (Michael Sirow) who gets killed off way too fast in this movie.

Being technically a slasher film, Wrath of Becky is of course all about the murders. And they are creatively made and well executed with plenty of practical effects. The positive side of this being narrated in Becky’s head is that it allows the filmmakers to show us characters getting killed in the form of her imagination. The film never lets you forget that Becky is a seventeen year old girl, so she’s not exactly beating up grown men three times her size and weight. Lulu Wilson is once again fantastic as Becky, a budding serial killer who only kills the people who really deserve it.

I can’t argue with the pacing of the movie either. It starts off slow and once the action kicks in it is a sprint to the finish line. My only complaint about the film is that the modern political references are a bit on the nose and moderately cringey, from the okay symbol to the references to 4Chan and Courtney. The ending of the film is fantastic, setting up yet another sequel and answering a question that we’ve all been wondering since the first film.

All in all, Wrath of Becky is exactly what we’d want out of a sequel. It doesn’t retread the first film, it gives the audience the murder and destruction they expect, and it builds off of the original in all the best ways. It sets up more movies in what could be a fantastic trilogy. There’s always more neo-Nazis to murder. It’s a little cringey, but I can look past that.

Rating: A