Tormented
2009 · Directed by Jon Wright
Original language: English
- horror
- comedy
The story
Driven to suicide by relentless bullying and neglect, a resurrected teenager returns from the dead to exact lethal revenge on his former tormentors.
What it’s like
Tormented (2009) is a British teen horror-comedy shot in the flat, overlit look of suburban English schools and council estates, with bright daylight, sickly fluorescent corridors and a swimming pool whose blue water becomes a recurring visual motif. Its tone sits in a deliberately mischievous space: dark gags, cutting irony and gleeful gore played against adolescent cruelty, with a pop-tinged soundtrack and quick cuts that give it a glossy, music-video energy. The pacing is brisk and episodic, built around escalating set pieces of revenge rather than slow dread, and the emotional throughline follows a bullied boy's bitter, sardonic return and the guilt of the people who wronged him. Violence is frequent and graphic, including drowning, severed body parts and a steady run of slasher-style kills, but the tone keeps it cartoonish and comic rather than harrowing; there is no sexual content and the horror lands as splatter and black humour. It suits a late-night watch with friends or a rowdy comedy-horror binge, and is best for viewers who enjoy gleefully nasty teen revenge stories and don't mind their bloodshed served with a wink.
More films like Tormented
Closest in mood, pacing and theme. Tell us why you loved Tormentedand we’ll explain which ones fit you.
