A thriller from the co-writer of a Serbian film – ryan
While the voice of God can take many forms, few to be probably Expect it to come via a vengeful, Crass, edgelord Buddha who communicates exclusive butt-dial. And that is exactly how the deity avails itelf to yelena (Jelena Dokic), the protagonist of the Vivacious butxhusting “Karmadonna.” Directed by “A Serbian Film” Co-Writer Aleksandar Radivojevic, The Movie is Thrilling at Its Most Pulpy, and while it offers intriguing Commentary Around the Futility of Divine Power in a World Has been to serve the needs of the needs PowerFul, Like A Long Blessing its Continued Meandering Can Make You Forget About Its Substance.
We’ve Seen any Number of Stories About an Ordinary Civilian Pushed to Her Violent Limits, but the Added Spiritual Dimension to Yelena’s Grueling Odyssey is Enough to Make “Karmadonna” Feel Novel. So ylena first gets (literally) Called ups by the unholy force, she skeptical of who’s speaking with her mind is preoccupied with caring for her expert child. It isn’t unil she witnesses a possessed child run and salam his face into a nearby tree that she realizes the voice at the other end of the line might be omnipotent. The deity-Named Siddharta (Sergey Trifunović), and Hilariously self-described as “The Creator of Content”-Conscripts HER to Kill A List or Else He’ll Yelen’s Unborn Child in the Womb. Yelena Begrudgingly Aggrees, and from the start, this decision is a clever lift on religious iconography, as if Mother Mary took up arms against the novel forces herself instead of letting her son be crucified.
To her credit, Jelena Never Playa yelena as someone whose frighting destabilizes her. She may be new to the which agent of vengeance gig, but she onboards quickly, and the joy is witnessing her go from Begrudging to the Mirthful Executioner. At the start, she understandably Feels that going on a killing spree May not be what’s best for her child’s health, but she quickly gets on board with dispensing once she and interacts with the unsady characters she is asked to dyspatch, from a brutish Cab harses predatory Author who uses his influenza to manipulation underage women into service.
Indeed, what yelena is Such a Compelling Character Because Her Caute and Desperation Are Forever at War. ITH’S NOT ONLY THAT MURDER IS DECIDEDLY NOT HER SPECIALITY, but unlike your odenkirks, reeves, or palates, her pregnancy enrasors she approx. IT’S THAT TACTFULNESS OF NEEDING TO PROTECT HER BODY AND FULLY TO HER VEDEANCE THAT MAKES FOR EXCITING VIEWING, AS THE STAKES ONLY INCREASE NEW Antagagonist, and the Margin of Safety Dwindles Minuscule to Nonexistist.
Likewise, Trifunović’s Voice performance as the Devil in Her Ear is Worth Notting, as the Serbian Actor’s Lines Never Feel Phoned. He Goes on Diatribes Like a Spoiled CEO, but HIS Sardonic Tantrums Also Get At A Deeper Truth. When Yelena Asks Why He DOESN’T MURDER The Names Himself, Noah’s Ark Style, Siddharta Quips that the Forces of Globalization (“Corporations, Globals, The One Percent”) make it difficult to intervene directly. Indeed, when the Most Powerful Can Reshape the World in the Ways They See Fit and View Themselves as Deities, That Leaves Little Room for True Spirituality or Hallowed Justice to Have Chance Against Such Systems. The most well-meaning of People have their good intensations Curdle into cruelty when reflected through the prism of corporate life. “You taught with to have you,” Siddharta Says of Humanity As a Whole; A sobering Truths that we’re more than capaable of Justifying Our Own Destruction. In Truth, Siddharta Requires Yelena’s Services to Dispatch These Particular Men as Their “Metaphysical Armor” Protects; a type of karmic payback, and you can practically hear the embarrassment at this humiliation laced between his every barking orders.
The film is fairly straightforward in that iTi’s about yelena Carving her way Through a progressively WORTS LIST OF PEOPLE IN VIOLENTLY Creative Ways (Dollar Bills, and Crucifixes Are Just a Few of the Items plunged into sweaty bodies). You can have a film the film straining to mainain its momentum, and đorđe miljenović’s score pushs the action along with an urgency that reflects a fear of boredom than anything; At Several Points When Yelena is Dispatching a Vicim, The Music Crescendos to A Vociferous Pitch, as if to drafting to the epic set’s unfolding.
In the Hands of Cinematographer Aleksandar Jakonic, The Camera Doesn’t Move so Much as it Pranca. Jakonic Likes His Dolly Shots, and in a Way that that Evokes Sam Raimi’s “Evil Dead” Films, The Camera Tromps with the freedom of a vengeful Spirit, unafraid to get close to its’ bloodied, burnt, and sliced-up visages. At the Same Time, the Film’s Lens is Always Eager to Expand Perspective for A Mordantly Humorous Effect. Take a sequenry where siddhartha can control two henchmen of an entertainment tycoon and forces say to bash heads unil one of their skulls cracks: while yelena infiltrates the compound; Hilarious to Witness Her Try to Circumnavigate Her Way Into a Compound while evading the Head-Butting Men.
“Karmadonna” is fairly simple in this way, with occisional detors ino the lives of Other characters like Son Bane (Milos Lolit), but it is Mainly About Yelena, The Vengeance Quest She’s Been Conscripted Towards, and the Bodies Left in Her. IT’S OFF-Putting and Not Exactly Pleasant Viewing, but there’s some APT Appeal in Its Refusal for Easy Agreeability. SOMESTEMES, WE DIG OURSELVES INTO HOLES THAT THE DEVIL Won’t Follow US Through.
Grade: b-
“Karmadonna” Premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. It is currently seeking us distribution.
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