Scorned is an independent movie co-written by Sadie Katz and Mark Jones about a woman who discovers her boyfriend is cheating on her with her best friend, and discovers this at the worst time. So Sadie, the scorned woman, plans to get revenge against them and it opens up with sext messages being exchanged between her best friend, Jennifer, and her boyfriend’s phone. However it’s actually Sadie sending the sext messages in order to lure Jennifer to the house they were staying at for the weekend with promises of a great sexual weekend with no games. Jennifer agrees thinking she would be meeting Kevin, Sadie’s boyfriend, and they would have a great weekend. But she doesn’t know that Kevin is just waking up groggy with searing pain in his head and tied to a chair with Sadie looking over him. At first he’s not sure what’s going on and thinks it’s a twisted joke until Sadie calls him a cheater, shows him his phone and reads a text message proving he was cheating. And this was supposed to be a special weekend for them too. So how did things get to this point and what does Sadie have in store for Kevin and Jennifer?

Scorned isn’t the first movie dealing with infidelity but when I read the synopsis and saw the trailer I was very interested. It was described as similar to Misery and would focus on the psychological and physical torture Sadie would put Kevin and Jennifer through. And indeed it started that way with the texts being sent from Sadie being shown on the screen luring Jennifer out there and then jumping to Kevin already battered and tied up. We’re then shown how these events unfolded 28 hours earlier with Sadie telling Jennifer how Kevin was taking her away for the weekend and she believed he was going to propose to her. So even though they’ve only been together for 6 months and they fight a lot Sadie believes that’s what will happen this weekend and she would want Jennifer to be her maid of honor. Jennifer raises doubts about that and obviously not just because of the two things just mentioned but because she’s having sex with Kevin too and wants him for herself. And the weekend did start off great for Sadie and Kevin as they were having fun, enjoying each other’s company and having good sex. And Kevin had no issue telling her he loved her and even the “crazy parts” of her mind. It’s not until a rain storm occurs and they get wet does things begin to go sour because Kevin gives Sadie his shirt to wear and when she goes to dry their clothes she discovers his phone in it with the text messages. And she questions him one more time to see if he would lie to her before attacking him and then tying him up.

There are glimpses of flashbacks from Sadie’s childhood that hinted at a traumatic experience that still currently plagued her and were responsible for her being on medication, and this current situation set her off. This was intriguing and gave more credence to her state of mind and actions because it’s not everyday someone decides to kidnap and torture two people. This also raised Sadie’s status as a terrifying figure because it wasn’t as if she just temporarily snapped and would come back from the edge but one that could get worse as the movie progressed.

And there are some great lines (“does she pull a rabbit out of it”) and some tongue in cheek moments delivered wonderfully by AnnaLynne McCord, and so she doesn’t come off as just an angry caricature but delightfully twisted and even a sympathetic character on a couple of occasions early on. This was on full display when Jennifer, played by Viva Bianca, first arrived and the intricate way she got Jennifer to follow her commands before taking her hostage too. And Sadie would then subject them to more torture using increasingly perverse ways to get them to follow her orders whether it was preparing to microwave a dog to physical and sexual abuse and pills. And initially they believe she’ll come to her senses but she believes, as she explains to them, that they deserve to be tortured in order to get them to act properly since she herself was subjected to electric shocks and other depraved means of behavior conditioning when she was institutionalized as a kid. So it was enough to establish a basis for her using these methods and Viva Bianca and Billy Zane played off her very well in their respective roles.

This was enjoyable in a horrifying way and I wondered what the end game would be for Sadie but then a curveball was thrown in the movie in the form of an escaped convict in the area. And what was once a psychological thriller with dark humor became less intense due to this distraction not having any connection to the characters or story prior to this. And I won’t give away any spoilers but I would have preferred a deeper exploration with Jennifer and Kevin as characters in the face of Sadie’s talk of her pregnancy, or something that could make the two become at odds giving even more of an opportunity for the psychological torture or games. Or at the very least a connection to the convict so all suspense isn’t removed and the action would be just as enjoyable.

Instead some of the potential is lost although the original premise is still maintained in the ending and that in and of itself is a horrifying thought.

SUMMARY

Scorned is an enjoyable ride that starts with a strong setup and despite a distraction that takes away from the suspense later, it’s still a movie that has memorable moments as well as a few things to ponder over. Sadie is a believable character considering the backstory laid out for her and there are some great lines and tongue-in-cheek moments that prevents her from becoming a caricature. The movie is at its strongest when Sadie is subjecting Jennifer and Kevin to her twisted conditioning methods and the equally twisted justifications behind them. If you’re looking for an entertaining movie with a situation described as ” a car wreck, you can’t look away (from) but you’re happy you’re not in it” then I recommend Scorned. It might just make you contemplate your choices more.