Outrage

OUTRAGE is a film that has none of the usual noir trappings of murder, gunplay and bank heists. It is, instead, a personal tale of one woman’s attempts to cope with the psychological effects of having been raped. Working late to earn extra money for her upcoming marriage, Ann Walton is stalked one night by the proprietor of a snack wagon, whose previous efforts to flirt with Ann had been unsuccessful. Unable to identify her attacker, Ann attempts to resume a life of normalcy, but is unable to endure the curious stares of her neighbors and co-workers. Utterly alone in her psychological pain, she flees to an orange grove community. Finding temporary work as a fruit-packer, she befriends Bruce Ferguson, a soft-spoken minister who has suffered his own crises of faith, and who recognizes the need to delicately heal Ann’s emotional wounds. Lupino's unwillingness to conclude the film with a trite happy ending that magically restores its characters to normalcy is one of OUTRAGE’s many special achievements. (Bret Wood)