Lowe also stars in the movie as Ruth, an expectant single mother who has a score to settle with society. Driven by her unborn child – or at least, her unborn child’s voice – Ruth is compelled to commit murder upon murder in what amounts to a pitch-dark but keenly-observed look at the experience of pregnancy in a society that condescends to pregnant women. For instance, a sharply-observed midwife (Eddie The Eagle’s Jo Hartley) is the butt of some early laughs with her chirpy over-familiarity, but is later developed into a more three-dimensional figure – she is, after all, there to help. As it is, the tone of Prevenge walks a difficult balancing act. As if replicating the experience of pregnancy, it shifts seamlessly between conflicting emotions. Still, it does want to make you laugh (and succeeds) but the grim, inevitability of its pace makes no concessions to comedy. Ruth’s psychosis cannot be halted, her depression will not crack, and ‘baby’ is coming, no matter how she appeases it. This is a film that strips pregnancy of its sentimental trappings and instead opts to portray a more interior reality: it’s hard, and it’s scary, and if you’ve been through it (or been close to someone who has) it’s all grimly familiar. At the heart of the script is the question of Ruth’s motivations, and the script teases us with possible explanations all the way through. Is she targeting a specific type of misogynist? Are these killings ritualistic? Is it righteous fury driving her? The truth is gradually assembled, giving you something to puzzle over after every encounter with her victims. Both writing and acting may be on point, but that doesn’t mean there’s any slack given to the visual direction either. With one particular moment during a sexual encounter, Lowe uses the language of horror cinema to deliver the film’s purest, heartiest laugh. Elsewhere, Lowe’s final act transformation into makes clear the extent of her troubled mental state. At one point, Ruth’s outfit – a black, fur-lined parka, hood up – sees her stalking the screen like an image of death. Maybe that’s sort of the point. Pregnancies don’t necessarily wait until you’re ready to be over – they just suddenly are. If the film’s ending seems to struggle to tie its plots together, it could be argued that Ruth’s new life has simply made her old one irrelevant. Whatever your take on its ending (and you’re sure to have one) Prevenge is dark and thought-provoking, yet sensitive, and establishes Lowe as a strong directorial voice who surely has even better things ahead. Prevenge arrives in UK cinemas on 10th February. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.