A Wounded Fawn (Shudder) Review

4 star satisfying psychadelic revenge horror.

A Wounded Fawn is a 2022 American horror film, witten by Nathan Faudree and Travis Stevens (Jakob’s Wife) who also directs.

Following it’s World Premier at the Tribeca Festival, this Shudder Original is now available to stream exclusivley on the streaming service.

“I suddenly became aware that I was both mortal and touchable and that I could be destroyed.”

– Leonora Carrington

As the film opens, we see Bruce (Josh Ruben – Scare Me, Blood Relatives), a young man working at an auction house in a fierce bidding contest to win a statuette of The Erinyes (The Furies). He loses out to colleague Kate (Malin Barr – The Beta Test) who goes home to celebrate, however it turns out he’s not easily deterred. He arrives at her house claiming to have a better offer, but following a vision of a huge Red Owl (Marshall Taylor Thurman – What My Love is For) he brutally murders her.

Act One. At an art gallery/museum we meet Meredith (Sarah Lind – Fatal Friend Request) and her friends Julia (Laksmi Hedermark) and Wendy (Tanya Everett – The Breeding), celebrating Meredith’s return to dating following a bad relationship. She is preparing to head off to a remote cabin in the woods with this man she barely knows (what could possibly go wrong?) and is very excited.

All packed and ready she goes out to car and the man is non other than Bruce. He’s charming and the cabin is lovely but soon strange things begin to happen and she starts to question everything. She also recognizes the statuette of The Erinyes as one that came to her museum for authentication. When Bruce strikes, she lashes out and boom. Act Two. And that’s where the fun starts.

“This place is really special to me Meredith. It means a lot that you agreed to come. I’m really looking forward to our time here together.”

A Wounded Fawn is a brilliant film. Based heavily on Greek mythology, it winds the story elegantly and carefully, allowing us to understand the references without becoming overwhelmed by them.

Severely injured, we never really know whether the Erinyes, Megaera, Alecto and Tisiphone are there or just an hallucination to Bruce, but either way the consequences are gruesome and deeply satusfying.

Psychadelic, basically bonkers in places and incredibly gory, this is a beautifully written and directed horror, a new take on the genre and featuring some excellent performances, especially the amazing Josh Ruben who commands the screen so well.