Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
Veronica, the new girl in town, is lured into the woods by a group of senior boys looking to make her a victim. But the boys don't know that Veronica's been trained to handle herself in surprisingly lethal ways.
Final Girl is a stylized but ultimately hollow thriller that squanders an intriguing premise. The role-reversal concept has potential but the execution is thin — characters are paper-thin archetypes, the plot mechanics are predictable, and the psychological tension it aims for rarely lands. Acting is serviceable at best, with performances that feel constrained by underdeveloped material. Cinematography is the film's strongest suit, featuring a deliberate, dreamlike aesthetic with desaturated tones and theatrical staging that gives it a faintly distinctive visual identity. However, the novelty of the concept is undermined by formulaic plotting and a been-there sensibility borrowed from grindhouse revenge fantasies. The ending resolves too neatly and without much earned catharsis, leaving the audience with little resonance.