Film Review: ‘Sweet Karma’ (2009) – The Canadian Sex Trade Meets its Match at The End of a Barrel

Poster Artwork

A beautiful mute young woman named Karma leaves her home in Russia in order to relentlessly pursue and punish those that had a hand in her sister’s tragic execution. Initially under the impression that her sister was leaving for Canada to be a cleaning lady, Karma discovers that the company is nothing more than a front for a sex slave ring. Dozens of innocent girls are taken from their countries and homes and forced to strip, prostitute and even act in porn against their wills.

Now Karma must find out who gave the order to have her sister murdered and find a way to free to sex slaves from their constant hotel imprisonment. Nobody, not the police or Russian mob, and nothing, not even being raped and beaten, will stop this mute assassin from following through with her plans of vengeance. Death isn’t always a scary thing, sometimes it comes sweetly and silently.

Before you go writing this off as nothing more than the average run-of-the-mill revenge film, you’ve got to check this little low budget film out for yourself. Andrew Thomas Hunt’s Sweet Karma offers up unique characters brought to life by capable actors, impressive action sequences and a bevvy of gorgeous women in various states of undress. At first glance one might be inclined to dismiss this as just another shot-on-video action entry but Hunt and his co-writer took the time to craft an interesting story, one that ratchets up the tension with each passing moment keeping viewers on edge throughout the entire film.

Just like any good revenge film, everything hinges on the lead actor/actress and whether they’re capable of convincing you of the necessity of their motivations and Sweet Karma’s mute heroine played by the beautiful Shera Bechard (Miss Playboy Nov 2010) does just that. Without Bechard having to speak one single word, I was able to follow everything she was doing and everything she was feeling and it was impossible not to admire and support the character. That said, and without taking a thing from her performance, it certainly helped the production quite a bit that she wasn’t afraid to make herself available for semi-nudity and a rather disturbing rape sequence. When you want to show the criminal underbelly in a film, flesh is always a must.

There really wasn’t much I didn’t like about this film, I thought the action was top-notch, the kill sequences were all bloody and brutal and I thought the electronic score was on point. This is a good film and a solid film with quite a bit going for it, I’d recommend a rental unless you’re a big fan of crime thrillers like this, then I’d say a purchase would definitely be in order. Hunt has definitely shown promise, I look forward to his next film.