As the thriller I Bring Joy begins, the audience already feels a sense of both dread and unease. The eponymous Joy (Elena Rivers) lives a reserved life in London. She has few friends, and her career as a dancer seems to be stagnant and unfulfilling.
Then the killings start.
Joy is attacked one night but manages to turn the tables and kill her assailant. The culprit was a member of a local crime syndicate who became hellbent on finding out her identity. Rather than be traumatized by the event, Joy starts claiming more victims. Killing transforms Joy, helping her break out of her stale existence.
Rivers delivers a mesmerizing performance. As she claims more and more victims, her character from earlier in the film is almost unrecognizable. However, the more she kills, the closer her assailants come to unraveling her identity. We meet some of them, including Floyd (Daniel Blake). A former family man, Floyd resorted to a life of crime to support his family. Director David Stuart Snell does a superb job of creating a world where not everything is at it seems.
Brief flashbacks throughout the film eventually indicate that Joy witnessed her boyfriend’s murder. This is the catalyst for her state at the beginning. She is still suffering the after-effects (most likely PTSD). She is unable to form real connections with family and friends. Fellow dancer Meghan (Verity Hayes) becomes somewhat of a rival, as she and Joy both audition for dance (and soon after film) roles. The interesting part is Joy really remains a shattered, broken person. Whether she is going through the motions of her dance practice or committing multiple murders, Rivers delivers a performance of a woman detached from normalcy. Even as the body count rises, Joy remains broken and disaffected. It’s truly hard to root for anyone in the film, which may make for an unsettling viewing experience.
I Bring Joy would work well in a film series about psychological trauma. Educators should consider this film for students studying modern British culture and politics. Fans of crime thrillers may also find the film interesting, although it is more along the lines of a pure psychological thriller.