Now that I have seen Becky (2020), I can tell you what I got wrong in discussing The Wrath of Becky (2023).  The sequel seemed to suggest that the title character’s (Lulu Wilson) family had been killed.  This is only partially true in the original, as we shall see.  I can tell you more definitively that she did not obtain her dog, Diego, while on the run from foster care.  Otherwise, if you see these movies in any order, you will note their similarity.  Please note that this is not a good thing.  In Becky, she is even younger, but exacting the same bloody revenge that I railed against in my review of the sequel.  Catholicism teaches us to be better people, and strangely enough, this warning comes in the original.  Let me explain how we get to this point.

Actually, most of Becky is spent explaining how she ends up talking to a police officer and a social worker.  It all starts two weeks prior to this moment.  She is a young teenager in school, but she is pulled from class by her father, Jeff (Joel McHale).  She has been in a dark place since her mother’s passing, and not communicative with her father.  As such, she says little as they drive despite his attempts at having a conversation.  During a stop for gas, Jeff notices on the television a report about four escaped convicts.  Scenes of their activities have been interspersed into the film to this point.  They are a set of Neo-Nazis led by Dominick (Kevin James).  As they are being transported, their hulking companion, Apex (Robert Maillet), murders the fifth prisoner with them, forcing the vehicle to pull over.  They then kill a family that they force to pull over in order to get a less noticeable mode of transportation.  It is this violence that has the report Jeff views adding that the escapees are armed and dangerous.  Following their stop, Jeff manages to get Becky to realize their destination: the secluded vacation home they had enjoyed with mom.  At first, this angers her because he had been trying to sell it.  He manages to get her to calm down for the first time when he reveals that they are keeping it.  Any goodwill garnered from that moment evaporates when Kayla (Amanda Brugel) and her son, Ty (Isaiah Rockcliffe), pull into the driveway.  Kayla is Jeff’s new girlfriend, another reason for Becky to dislike her dad, and the two have come to spend a few days with Becky and Jeff.  It gets worse for Becky when, during dinner, Jeff announces that he and Kayla are getting married.  Becky angrily departs, taking Diego with her to her fort in the woods.  Before getting there, Jeff manages to get to his daughter and she accuses her dad of trying to replace her mom.  As they fight, there is a ring of the doorbell, which is answered by Kayla.  By the time Jeff returns, Dominick has entered the house claiming to be looking for his lost dog.  It does not take him long to reveal his Neo-Nazi identity, spouting nonsense about how races should remain separate and sporting a swastika tattoo on the back of his head.  Jeff and Kayla demand that Dominick leave, but the white supremacist and his companions are after a key.  This is something we have seen in Becky’s possession in her fort.  Jeff and Kayla have no knowledge of its existence.  Meanwhile, Becky has been alerted to the presence of intruders while Dominick’s two other cronies patrol the area.  Understanding the danger, she sneaks back into the house while Dominick shoots Kayla in the leg, demanding answers.  Becky is reaching for her bag with her phone but is stopped when she hears sounds of Dominick in the basement.  He has found where the key is supposed to have been stashed, but comes up empty.  Noticing signs of a little girl, he follows a ladder that leads into her room.  Locating her things, he now knows there is another person outside.  What Becky had managed to grab is the toy walkie talkie, and she uses it to demand that they let her dad, Kayla, and Ty go.  Instead, Dominick tortures Jeff into getting her to bring him the key.  Jeff instead tries to get her to run, but the sounds of his pain are too great.  Rather than letting her fall into Dominick’s hands, Jeff puts up a fight and is gunned down for his efforts.  Enraged, Becky stabs Dominick in the eye and runs away.  The next few minutes feature scenes of the other two flunkies being sent to bring in a teenager and dying brutal deaths in the process.  When Apex catches up with her, though, it is out in the open.  However, the family they murdered after busting out of the transport bus still haunts him.  It has already led him to try to let Kayla and Ty run away, who were soon caught, and has been conflicting him since.  As such, he tries to convince Becky to walk away as he is about to do.  Instead, she returns to the house and creates a distraction to get Dominick to come outside.  In doing so, she has Diego bite his arm before hitting him with a car.  He survives, going in the direction of her voice to the firepit.  There, she lights him on fire, but he manages to put himself out and finally catch her.  He is about to finish her off when he is stopped by Apex.  As they fight, she grabs a lawn mower pulled by a four-wheeler and uses it kill Dominick.  Picking up the gun he dropped, she shoots Apex in the head.  Kayla and Ty soon join her and they are found by the police.

Becky ends with the police questioning mentioned at the beginning of the synopsis.  In case you are wondering about the all-important key that started all this, it is still in her possession as the credits roll.  There is no clue given as to what it leads to, nor does the sequel give us anything.  I guess this is why they are making a third of these films.  I cannot say that this Catholic is all that thrilled by this prospect.  All the same, there is one scene worth going into more detail about amidst this gory mess, and that is the exchange between Apex and Becky.  As mentioned, he is haunted by the murder of the family, and all the other terrible things he has done as a Neo-Nazi.  By this point, Becky has stabbed Dominick in the eye and killed two other people in merciless fashion.  The use of the word “merciless” is purposeful, just so we are clear.  God’s mercy is for everyone, even our enemies.  She grants them none, even when they beg or are defenseless.  That is not Christ-like behavior.  Dominick notices the draining lack of empathy in Becky and cautions her, saying that it is not too late to change her ways and citing her youth.  That part is definitely true.  It may seem like a copout, but even the most hardened sinner can return to God and be redeemed if it is truly in that person’s heart to do so.  That last part is key.  If said person is not committed to reform, then repentance is unlikely.  Only God can accurately judge such matters, which can appear to be a small consolation of those victimized by a person’s transgression.  I am as against the activities of the villains in this movie as I can be, but I also know that they are God’s creatures.  While Dominick may have been unrepentant, Dominick showed remorse.  Sadly, it was not enough for Becky.

I think it is enough to say that I do not recommend Becky.  Some might argue that her actions are self-defense, but it becomes excessive.  This is done for effect because while this is an action movie, the amount of gore makes it almost a slasher flick.  It does not work for me either way, so I say pass.