Eye for an Eye

This was a film that I got the chance to see via screener thanks to Emma from Fusion Entertainment. Seeing that this was an independent 2025 film, I like to check out films like this to help round out my end of year list. The title obviously comes from the old adage, so I kept that in mind. Outside of confirming this was a 2025 release and in the genre, I came into this one blind - no pun intended.

Synopsis: follows the story of Anna (Whitney Peaks) who grieves the death of her parents as she moves from New York to Florida to stay with her grandmother. She falls in with some other teens, but when she sees a grisly act of violence, she finds herself trapped.

We start with this by learning the lore of Sandman. This entity targets bullies, taking their eyes while they cry in pain. It then begins in the past. It doesn't tell us the year, but we are seeing a young woman in bed. We then shift to a cheerleading routine. The cheerleader we're focusing on is May (Michika McClinton). Something happens, she falls through the platform they're performing on. She then wakes up, screaming and bleeding from her eyes. We also see a dark hourglass to which something places two eyeballs in.

The film then shifts to the present day. Anna is dropped off by a taxi at her grandmother's house. From what we learn, these two have never met. Like the synopsis says, she's moving here due to her parents tragically passing away. There seems to be a history of family trauma, since grandmother May (S. Epatha Merkerson) never met Anna or her father from what I'm gathering. Things are awkward as she is shown around the house. There is only one rule. May's room is locked and she doesn't want Anna going in there.

This place is a culture shock for Anna. She takes a walk and ends up at a dock where she meets Shawn (Finn Bennett) and Julie Cross (Lake Giles). They offer her a beer and they spend the afternoon together. When it is time to return home, she goes through the woods where she comes up on an odd tree. She notices that May's name is carved on it. Anna is into photography so she takes a photo.

I should also include here that Patti (Golda Rosheuvel) is Anna's aunt. She works at the local grocery store and brings things for her mother. These two don't get along though as she leaves the bag with Anna. She then takes off in a hurry. May isn't overly warm toward Anna so they start to distance themselves.

This then brings us to the catalyst event. Shawn is a mean drunk. One afternoon, they're hanging out on a bridge when Conner (Carson Minniear) is practicing rollerblading. Shawn messes with him and this results in the boy getting hurt. His arm is broken. Shawn panics, wanting to leave him where he is. Anna demands they help him to which Julie agrees. They both chicken out though. Patti asks the boy what happened, having a history of being bullied herself. This is when she teaches the boy about a way of getting revenge, it is through summoning the Sandman.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start then would be that there is interesting mythology here. Using the Sandman like we are here is fascinating. He haunts his victim's dreams, turning into terrifying nightmares. Now I'm not the biggest fan of dream sequences as I think it is something that is a cheap way to scare and is overused. I am more forgiving here, since this entity's history is directly in the lore. There were other things that I had bigger issues with.

Now that I've set that up, let me delve deeper into what I did like. This film has a poignant look at bullying. It is interesting how it is played out here as we're seeing one aspect be a generational trauma. May was the popular girl at school and then she was blinded. We see it is by this entity but it was considered a freak accident. May is cold and mean. It is good to have a character like Patti who doesn't want to be around her. May is also set in her ways and particularly about how things are done. Merkerson was solid in bringing this role to life. This makes for tense situations where she is in the room with Anna, as she can't see but is trying to sense her. I liked utilizing that to help build the atmosphere.

Then from here, I did want to shift over to our group of teens. Anna is an outsider and there aren't many young people to hang out with. Shawn and Julie aren't necessarily bad people. I do like framing them as grey characters. Shawn is a jerk when he's drunk. He then is afraid of getting into trouble so he just continues to double down. Julie is complacent in the physical abuse that Shawn is doing. She could do the right thing, but instead she sits idly by. Anna falls into this as well, just going slightly farther. There's a great scene when Conner carves this trio's name on to the tree. We see what happens when Shawn tries to do the same thing, but it disappears. I do love that the curse only allows those who deserve punishment.

Let's then shift over to discussing the entity. I'm not going to spoil things, but we do get a backstory about it. It is tragic and makes sense why it targets bullies. I thought that was fine. What is interesting here is that we are getting a watered down version of Pumpkinhead. The problem there is that there are no stakes so it loses tension. The look was fine. It did remind me of the Canker Man from Before I Wake. I like how it appears. It is in the background which makes me uncomfortable. I'll credit the cinematography and framing. I love the idea of the title and what the Sandman does. This does end up feeling a bit generic outside of that.

Moving down over then to discuss the rest of the filmmaking aspects. I do think that the cinematography and the framing were good as I said. The practical look of the creature was as well. I'll also credit Ben Bladon for being the body. Using a physical human was a solid move. There is CGI here. I am a bit more forgiving since we are dealing with nightmares and dream logic. They do creepy things with the effects. I also thought that sound design worked to help build the atmosphere. The problem is that this ends up as a slow burn that struggled to hold my attention.

All that is left then is the acting performances. Since I haven't come out and stated it, I wanted to give credit to Peak. I thought she was good as our lead. She plays it stoically, but that's the trauma of what happened with her parents weighing on her. She's also not sleeping well as she is tormented by this entity. That made sense to me. Bennett is solid as this bully who gets his two friends into trouble. Giles works as the other friend. She and Anna should stand up to Shawn but they're guilty for allowing it to happen. Merkerson is good as this older woman who has turned bitter for what happened to her. Rosheuvel also worked in her role. Credit to Minniear and the rest of the cast to round this out for what was needed.

In conclusion, this delves into interesting mythology surrounding the Sandman and offers a poignant look at bullying and generational trauma through its characters. While there are strong performances, particularly from Peaks and Merkerson, as well as effective cinematography and sound design, the film ultimately suffers from a lack of stakes and a slow burn that struggles to maintain momentum. It feels like a watered-down version of similar concepts, leading to a largely generic haunting experience. Unless you are specifically drawn to this subgenre, this film is not one I would readily recommend as I do think it will fade into obscurity.

My Rating: 5.5 out of 10.

Review: 6/10

Alright, let's calm down with the 8.9 ratings, people. Eye for an Eye (2025) isn't bad-but let's not pretend it's some horror masterpiece. I just watched it. It's fine. There are some fun beats, a couple of creative visuals, and Whitney Peak is legitimately great. But scary? No. Suspenseful? Not really. Makes sense? Definitely not.

What works: Whitney Peak carries this thing. She's got real presence and does more with her role than the script gives her. There's some stylish direction in a few moments, mostly in the dream or nightmare stuff-but that's about it for the good news.

What doesn't: There's no build. No tension. No dread crawling under your skin. It doesn't escalate-it just kind of exists. The story feels like it's trying to do twelve different things at once, and none of them land. And the rest of the cast? Mostly forgettable. You could swap 'em out with mannequins and I might not notice.

Bottom line: Watch it if you're curious or a fan of Whitney Peak, but don't expect to be scared. Don't expect to be thinking about it after the credits roll. This isn't Hereditary-hell, it's not even The Ring. It's more like an overproduced campfire story that never quite figures out what it wants to be.

Final Score: 6/10 (And I'm being generous because I didn't hate it. Just don't try to tell me it's a nine.)