God is a Bullet
Directed by Nick Cassavetes
Written by Nick Cassavetes and Boston Teran
Starring Maika Monroe, Jamie Foxx, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Karl Glusman
Unrated
Runtime: 155 minutes 
In Theaters June 23

by Tori Potenza, Staff Writer

Content Warnings: Rape, abuse, violence towards women and children, drug use 

Exploitation films feel like a thing of the past. Perhaps that is for the best, considering the many problematic themes and stories that came with the B-movie subgenre. Yet exploitation also explored subject material that was important but avoided by mainstream films. It also provided opportunities to showcase marginalized populations who were not welcome in bigger-budget Hollywood movies. Years later, many have found a cult audience who appreciate the fact that these movies focused on the grime and grit of the world that others would not touch. While God is a Bullet does not feel like it has anything profound in its overall story, it does harken back to a time when there was more exploration of sleaze, when American movies did not feel so sanitized. It is a reminder that movies can be lean, mean, and revel in the filth of their story. 

If you’ve seen other revenge films, many beats in God is a Bullet will feel familiar. Its plot aligns with movies like Liam Neeson’s Taken but with the hyper-violence and gritty aesthetic of a film like Green Room. It is a man’s quest to rescue his daughter from a violent and chaotic cult but its main character does not have a “specific set of skills,” he has to learn those over the course of the movie if he wants to stand a chance against those who have stolen his daughter. The violence of this movie is not sleek or stylized either, it is intense and in your face right from the beginning of the movie. It is not for the faint of heart. The filmmakers do what they can to make sure the audience feels the gravity of the violence being used, even when it is against innocent people or our protagonists. This makes it hard to fully settle into the fun and cathartic effect these revenge movies can have. However, if the audience can get on board with the overall exploitative tone and nature of the film, there is plenty of fun to be had once it is in full swing. 

One of the most surprising aspects of this movie is its 2-hour and 35-minute runtime. It emulates revenge and exploitation films that usually end somewhere around the 90-minute mark. However, God is a Bullet manages to earn its runtime. It turns the revenge tale into a sprawling epic and road trip movie between its main characters Bob Hightower (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Case Hardin (Maika Monroe). The two start off on opposite sides of the spectrum; Bob is a deeply religious man and detective whose career has involved nothing more than paperwork and desk duty, while Case is a hardened woman who was kidnapped and brought into drugs and prostitution as a young child. The one thing connecting them is the fact that Bob’s daughter was kidnapped by the cult that Case escaped from. So the length of the movie allows the audience to get to know these characters and watch how their relationship and quest for revenge change them. It also gives breather room in between its disturbing and gory violence. 

Much of the reason God is a Bullet works so well is because of its stellar cast of actors. Maika Monroe (It Follows, Watcher) has proven herself to be a dedicated genre actor. Even after seeing her giving a wide range of performances, we’ve never seen her in a role quite like this. Case has become completely hardened to the world given all of the pain and abuse she has experienced but there is still a rawness due to the childhood she missed out on. Much like her delicate features are hard to miss even when beat up and covered in tattoos, it is hard to hide the part of her that yearns for a slice of happiness and normalcy. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, best known as the arrogant and villainous Jamie Lannister on Game of Thrones, effortlessly falls into the role of the meek Southern cop and troubled father. Hopefully, he gets more opportunities to show off his range in future projects. One of the most impressive transformations is Karl Glusman, who starred alongside Monroe in Watcher last year. Over the past few years, he has appeared in projects like Alex Garland’s sci-fi mini-series DEVS and the 1950s queer musical Please Baby Please. In each project, he has taken on an entirely different persona and but he has never been quite as terrifying and unpredictable as he is in this movie as the deranged cult leader Cyrus. There are also great side characters from actors like Jamie Foxx, January Jones, David Thornton, and Ethan Suplee. 

Overall, the movie is successful in bringing its story to life, even though at times its themes seem outdated and undercooked. Underneath the overarching story, there are themes around religious corruption and capitalism but they are not fully explored in a meaningful way. The cult is also based on old ideas of “satanic panic” which is not necessarily something we need to bring back in 2023. Considering the book in which the film is based was written in the late 90s it makes a little more sense but it is harder to deal with in the modern day. The cult itself uses a lot of Wiccan and witchcraft imagery and terminology. This could be a nod to how cults like this pull religious imagery from various cultures and make up a story about it. Or it could be lazy writing without recognizing that witchcraft and devil worship are not the same. It is hard to tell what they are trying to do here or what sort of message you are meant to walk away with in this regard. So it is probably more enjoyable to not try to pull any real meaning from this and just enjoy the revenge story.  

Overall, God is a Bullet is a wild revenge film that genre fans who like hyperviolence and gore will surely appreciate. It does feel like a movie from a different era, both in interesting and potentially problematic ways but on the surface works. It is also beautifully made with gorgeous colors and neon aesthetics that are a welcome palette cleanser in between the more hard-to-stomach moments of violence. Kenji Katori is clearly a talented cinematographer whose eye is essential to making us not shy away from this graphic tale. It is unsurprising that Nick Cassavetes directed such a beautiful and interesting film considering his father is the renowned John Cassavetes. Although it is surprising that this comes from the same director as the beloved romance film The Notebook. While this may not be as renowned and wildly received as The Notebook, God is a Bullet is certainly a spectacle that will find an audience amongst genre fans.