Revanche is a both a gripping thriller and a tragic drama in the classic Grecian vein. With an Oscar nomination to its name the film finally sees the international breakthrough of Austrian director Götz Spielmann. Set in the red light district of Vienna, ex-con Alex (Johannes Krisch) works in a brothel, where he falls for Ukrainian prostitute Tamara (Irina Potapenko). Their desperate plans to escape unexpectedly become entangled with the lives of a rural policeman and his seemingly content wife. With elegant and exacting direction, reminiscent of Premingers classic noirs, Spielmann ingeniously subverts the thriller genre to create a portrait of vengeance and redemption that is both incredible tense and cerebral.