Fans hail Jennifer Garner’s “badass” revenge thriller

Cameron Frew
Jennifer Garner in Peppermint

Jennifer Garner’s “Death Wish on steroids” has been rediscovered by fans, with viewers hailing the “badass” thriller and recommending it to others.

It’s a tale as old as… 1974, when Charles Bronson’s Paul Kersey sought to avenge the death of his wife after she was killed during a home invasion, not to mention his daughter being sexually assaulted.

This spearheaded a new type of action cinema: the vigilante movie, when seemingly ordinary people are pushed to extraordinary violence in pursuit of revenge for grave wrongdoing, whether their family and friends are killed, a child is kidnapped, or someone simply needs a moral correction.

The Equalizer, Man on Fire, Harry Brown, Death Sentence, and Law Abiding Citizen are all good examples – but Garner’s brutal twist on the sub-genre flew under the radar in 2018.

Fans rediscover Jennifer Garner’s Peppermint

Peppermint, which comes from the director of Taken, stars Garner as Riley North, an LA banker whose family is gunned down at a carnival. Five years later, she resurfaces to seek vengeance on the drug cartel who killed her husband and daughter.

Upon its original release, it was widely dismissed by critics, with the film landing at just 13% on Rotten Tomatoes. “A dreary vigilante revenge story that lacks unique twists or visceral thrills,” its consensus reads. Its box office performance was similarly underwhelming, grossing $53 million from a $25 million budget.

Yet, people have been checking it out this week – and they have nothing but praise. “Peppermint was a badass movie,” one user tweeted.

“Peppermint with Jennifer Garner is one of my favorite movies that has come out in recent years,” another wrote. “Peppermint is such a great movie I can’t believe I almost forgot about it,” a third posted. “Peppermint on TV and I love this movie… Jennifer Garner really shocked me,” a fourth wrote.

How to watch Peppermint on streaming

Peppermint is available to stream on Netflix… in the UK, which means you’ll need a VPN to watch it.

Fortunately, we have just the thing: all you need to do is sign up for ExpressVPN, and you’ll easily be able to unlock the streaming platform’s UK library. Dexerto readers also get 3 months free (save 49%).

It’s also available to rent or buy digitally via Amazon Prime and other on-demand platforms, as well as on DVD and Blu-ray.

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About The Author

Cameron is Deputy TV and Movies Editor at Dexerto. He's an action movie aficionado, '80s obsessive, and Oscars enthusiast. He loves Invincible, but he's also a fan of The Boys, the MCU, The Chosen, and much more. You can contact him at cameron.frew@dexerto.com.