''Descent'' is a 2007 American

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Talia Lugacy Talia Lugacy is an American film director, writer and producer. She is best known for her work on the films '' Descent'' and '' This Is Not a War Story''. Life and career Lugacy was born in New York City, New York to Moroccan and Greek parents. S ...

and produced by and starring

Rosario Dawson Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama ''Kids''. Her subsequent film roles include '' He Got Game'' (1998), ''Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Men in Bl ...

Plot

Maya is an upcoming artist and college student. In the winter of her senior year, Maya attends a fraternity party and meets a student named Jared who immediately starts courting her using all his eloquence behind which there is nothing but lies. Seduced by his lies, she accepts his invitation to dinner at a restaurant, then goes to his apartment, just to talk. They start to make out, but when Maya tells him to stop, Jared soon reveals his true self and brutally rapes her while uttering dehumanizing slurs in her ear. Over the next year, Maya's personality changes. She becomes quiet and withdrawn, graduating from college and taking a job at a clothing store. She disconnects herself from society and other familiar surroundings while struggling to break free of the resulting depression and

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use o ...

. At night, she's someone else: a beauty at the nightclub scene, dancing, seductive, sniffing cocaine. Maya later meets and seeks out the help of a DJ she meets at a club, named Adrian, whom she confides in. Maya becomes TA to a class Jared is in. One day she catches him cheating on an exam and threatens to report it, but instead uses it as an opportunity to lure Jared to her apartment. Jared willingly complies. She turns the tables on him by tying him to her bed and blindfolding him. When she begins to cry, he tries to reassure her, which angers her and she gags him. She rapes him with an object, then allows Adrian to rape Jared several times. He taunts Jared psychologically for becoming physically aroused by the assault, echoing the slurs Jared said to Maya. As Jared gives up struggling against Adrian's assault and goes slack, Adrian asks Maya if "everything's alright now." She turns to him, silently crying tears of joy, and turns away.

Cast

as Maya *

Chad Faust Chad Faust (born July 14, 1980) is a Canadian actor, singer, film producer, film director, and screenwriter best known for his role as Kyle Baldwin in ''The 4400''. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Biography Faust starred in ''B ...

as Jared *

Marcus Patrick Marcus Patrick (born Patrick Marcus Osborne; 5 June 1974 in Bath, Somerset) is an English actor, model, singer and film director. Acting career Patrick has appeared in such American television series as '' My Wife & Kids'', ''CSI: Miami'' an ...

as Adrian * James A. Stephens as Professor Byron *

Vanessa Ferlito Vanessa Ferlito is an American actress. She is known for playing Detective Aiden Burn in the first season of the CBS crime drama ''CSI: NY'', as well as for her recurring portrayal of Claudia Hernandez in FOX drama '' 24'', and for her starring ...

as Bodega Girl *

Tracie Thoms Tracie Nicole Thoms is an Emmy-nominated American television, film, and stage actress and singer. She is known for her roles in ''Rent'', ''Cold Case'', '' The Devil Wears Prada'', ''Death Proof'', and the short-lived Fox television series ''Won ...

as Denise *

Alexie Gilmore Alexie Gilmore (born December 11, 1976) is an American actress who starred in ''New Amsterdam'' as Dr. Sara Dillane. She is featured in ''Definitely, Maybe'' and co-starred in ''Surfer, Dude''. Alexie also played the part of Kelly in '' Willow Cr ...

as Seline * Jonathan Tchaikovsky as Tyler *

Phoebe Strole Phoebe Kathryne Strole (born January 22, 1983 in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American actress who is best known for originating the role of Anna in the 2006 Broadway musical '' Spring Awakening''. Early life Strole graduated from Southwest High ...

as Innocent Girl * Nicole Vicius as Melanie * Scott Bailey as Upstairs Guy

Release

''Descent'' was released in two alternate cuts: a 105-minute uncut NC-17 rated version and a 95-minute R-rated version. The notable difference between the two is that the edited release omits about seven minutes of the second rape scene.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the film has an approval rating of 35% based on reviews from 34 critics, with an average rating of 4.88/10. The website's consensus states: "''Descent'' has the potential to make a statement about sexual violence, but falls flat by focusing on revenge rather than Rosario Dawson's emotional state." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a score of 45 out of 100 based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Matt Zoller Seitz of

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

wrote: "Hard to watch but essential to see, Descent is at once realistic and rhetorical, and driven throughout by righteous anger that comes from an honest place."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Descent 2007 films 2007 LGBT-related films 2007 thriller drama films American independent films American LGBT-related films American thriller drama films Films about racism Films about rape Films set in New York City Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in New York City American rape and revenge films 2007 drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films