Domestic violence takes shape in Al Kalyk’s Cruel Hands. Visceral anguish seeps from the TV screen and soaks into the viewer’s skin. The film, co-written with Matthew Kalyk, shares a kinship with 2020’s Hunter Hunter, both volatile stories that explode upon impact. In his 1697 play, The Mourning Bride, English author William Congreve once wrote: “Heav’n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn’d, Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn’d.” That sentiment courses in the blood of Kalyk’s film like poison, splashing upon themes of reclaiming one’s life, resilience, and turning misery into a battle cry. It’s a collision of purpose and retaliation that aims directly for the heart.
Maria (Mavournee Hazel) escapes her abusive husband Jason (Josh McConville) with her son Dai (Diesel La Torraca) during Australia’s 2019 brushfires, commonly known as Black Summer. The scorched earth serves as a clear metaphor for Maria’s life, burned to ash and bone fragments. When Maria and Dai flee into the woods, their lives become trapped inside a hellish nightmare. Ravenous fires rise high above them, and Jason closes in with bloodlust throbbing in his eyes. His wickedness can never be tamed. But they must keep fighting, even if they have to pay a heavy price in flesh. Kalyk sheds light on the reality for many women, one wrought with bruises, broken bones, and immense psychological brokenness.
Maria is willing to put it all on the line for not only herself but also for Dai. She strives to break the chains of the past once and for all and heal his scars before it’s too late. Cruel Hands navigates its premise with acrobatic ease. The fires constantly remind Maria of the fragility of life and the extinguished existence that lies dead and smoking by their feet. Maria and Dai eventually make their way to a secluded home in the woods and take shelter. Night falls, creating an even more suffocating desperation that’s just as deadly as smoke inhalation. There is never any escaping reality. The film leaps into its devastating finale, akin to that Martina McBride song.
Cruel Hands never takes the audience for granted, and it delicately approaches the material with a keen eye for telling the truth. Al Kalyk injects the narrative with earthy, raw visual textures. Cinematographer Charlie Cole helps elevate the work with heart-pounding intensity, creating an explosive style that mirrors Maria’s emotional journey. A psychological unease escalates with every one of her leave-crunching footsteps, as though she still walks around on eggshells. She managed the abuse in this way, but in her escape, she retools her behavioral coping mechanism as a sharp weapon. Through her trials, she regains her self-worth and vows to destroy the destroyer.
Al Kalyk’s Cruel Hands straddles the lines of horror and thriller. The writer/director blends real-life horror with a fictional playground, creating an overwhelming and, at times, cathartic experience. There are few things as thrilling as a woman taking back her life and doing absolutely anything to save herself and her loved ones. The film delivers many startling sucker-punches and emerges as one of the year’s biggest indie surprises.
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