Asking For It: A 2026 Look Back at a Messy Revenge Thriller

I finally caught up with Asking For It in 2026, and I’m still trying to figure out how a movie with such a stacked cast and such urgent themes could feel so... scattered. Eamon O'Rourke wrote and directed this 2022 revenge thriller, and it clearly wants to be the pop-rock cousin of Assassination Nation. You know the type: neon visuals, punk energy, a message ripped from the headlines. But here’s the thing—I don’t think it earns that comparison.

The plot follows Joey (Kiersey Clemons), a waitress who is sexually assaulted by someone she knows. Regina (Alexandra Shipp), a frequent diner guest, notices Joey’s behavior changing. Regina brings her into the Cherry Bombers, a vigilante group of women led by Sal (Radha Mitchell). The crew includes Beatrice (Vanessa Hudgens) and Lily (Leslie Stratton). Their big target? Mark Vanderhill, an alt-right white supremacist who whips up volatile men who believe in dominating women. And honestly, that part doesn’t require much imagination. It’s ripped from real life, which makes the film’s failures sting even more.

I appreciate what O'Rourke tries to do. He draws a line between feminism and man-hating. The Cherry Bombers aren’t just there to trample men; they’re survivors. But that’s also the problem. The film defines them almost entirely by their trauma. We get little sense of who they are as people. Their pain takes center stage, and their personalities stay in the wings. For a movie that wants to be about reclaiming power, it forgets to give its heroes interior lives.

The rape-revenge genre is tricky. It can be cathartic, furious, and deeply personal. Recent films have leaned into stylish outfits, pop culture references, and eye-catching set pieces. Asking For It follows that trend. It’s flashy. It’s loud. It’s got a kinetic, bombastic energy that some viewers will find engaging. But sensitive topics like rape culture, sexual assault, and alt-right propaganda need a deft hand. O'Rourke doesn’t have one. The result is a tonally confusing, overdone mess.

I’ll say this: the film isn’t ugly. If it were just a thriller about a gang of women living on society’s margins, the aesthetic might have worked. But the movie has lofty ambitions. It wants to tackle systemic issues. And it spreads itself too thin. The Cherry Bombers have two targets representing two different horrors. That diminishes the impact. A concise script would have helped. Instead, we get hints at larger issues that are beyond these characters’ reach.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what worked and what didn’t for me:

The film could have been a tighter battle between the gang and the local sheriff—a man who personifies the evil they want to vanquish. Or it could have centered Lily, a burn victim who represents a hate crime that has only gained more traction globally in recent years. Imagine flipping the narrative to focus on her and taking down the ‘men’s rights’ leader who encourages that violence. That movie sounds focused. This one isn’t.

I keep coming back to the phrase ‘placing a hat on top of a hat.’ That’s what Asking For It does. It has a clear objective, but then it adds another objective, and another, until the whole thing topples over. It feels like a mansplaining version of what a modern revenge thriller should be. For how extreme the threats are—and for how little exaggeration is needed to create them—the film is missing the key ingredient: three-dimensional leads.

Does that mean you should skip it? Not necessarily. Some viewers will find it thought-provoking. The cast is full of fan-favorites. The energy is there. The catharsis of women reclaiming their bodies, time, and power from institutions and men who deem them unworthy is real. But the execution undermines the good it’s trying to accomplish. It’s a 3/10 for me. It runs 101 minutes and is rated R for disturbing and violent content, sexual material, nudity, and language throughout. It opened in theaters, digital, and on-demand on March 4, 2022.

In 2026, we have no shortage of stylish revenge thrillers. Some are great. Some are forgettable. Asking For It falls into the latter category for me. It’s not without merit, but it’s also not the film its themes deserve. If you’re going to tackle rape culture and alt-right violence, you need more than a cool aesthetic and a catchy name. You need characters who feel like people, not just symbols. You need focus. You need a point of view that doesn’t collapse under its own ambition.

Would I watch it again? Probably not. But I’m glad I finally saw it, if only to understand why so many people were frustrated back in 2022. Some movies age like wine. This one ages like a glitter bomb—loud, messy, and impossible to clean up. 💥