While the voice of God can take many forms, few would probably expect it to come via a vengeful, crass, edgelord Buddha who communicates exclusively through butt-dial. And yet that’s exactly how the deity avails itself to Yelena (Jelena Dokic), the protagonist of the vivacious but exhausting “Karmadonna.” Directed by “A Serbian Film” co-writer Aleksandar Radivojevic, the movie is thrilling at its most pulpy, and while it offers intriguing commentary around the futility of divine power in a world that has been shaped to serve the needs of the most powerful, like a long-winded dinner blessing its continued meandering can make you forget about its substance.
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We’ve seen any number of stories about an ordinary civilian pushed to her violent limits, but the added spiritual dimension to Yelena’s grueling odyssey is enough to make “Karmadonna” feel novel. When Yelena first gets (literally) called upon by the unholy force, she remains skeptical of who’s speaking with her as her mind is preoccupied with caring for her expectant child. It isn’t until she witnesses a possessed child run and slam his face into a nearby tree that she realizes the voice at the other end of the line might just be omnipotent. The deity — named Siddharta (Sergej Trifunović), and hilariously self-described as “the creator of content” — conscripts her to kill a list of individuals or else he’ll slay Yelena’s unborn child in the womb. Yelena begrudgingly agrees, and from the start, this decision is a clever lift on religious iconography, as if Mother Mary took up arms against the Roman forces herself instead of letting her Son be crucified.
To her credit, Jelena never plays Yelena as someone whose fright destabilizes her. She may be new to the whole agent of vengeance gig, but she onboards quickly, and the joy is witnessing her go from begrudging participant to mirthful executioner. At the start, she understandably feels that going on a killing spree may not be what’s best for her child’s health, but she quickly gets on board with dispensing judgment once she interacts with the unsavory characters she’s asked to dispatch, from a brutish cab driver who harasses her to a predatory author who uses his influence to manipulate underage women into service.
Indeed, what Yelena is such a compelling character because her caution and desperation are forever at war. It’s not only that murder is decidedly not her speciality, but unlike your Odenkirks, Reeves, or Patels, her pregnancy ensures she can’t afford to take the hits the other cinematic hitmen have readily invited. It’s that tactfulness of needing to protect her body and fully commit to her vengeance that makes for exciting viewing, as the stakes only increase with each new antagonist, and the margin of safety dwindles from minuscule to nonexistent.
Likewise, Trifunović’s voice performance as the devil in her ear is worth noting, as the Serbian actor’s lines never feel phoned in. He goes on diatribes like a spoiled CEO, but his sardonic tantrums also get at a deeper truth. When Yelena asks why he doesn’t murder the names himself, Noah’s Ark style, Siddharta quips that the forces of globalization (“corporations, globalists, the one percent”) make it difficult to intervene directly. Indeed, when the most powerful can reshape the world in the ways they see fit and view themselves as deities, that leaves little room for true spirituality or hallowed justice to have a fighting chance against such systems. Even the most well-meaning of people have their good intentions curdle into cruelty when reflected through the prism of corporate life. “You taught me to hate you,” Siddharta says of humanity as a whole; a sobering truth that we’re more than capable of justifying our own destruction. In truth, Siddharta requires Yelena’s services to dispatch these particular men as their “metaphysical armor” protects them; a type of karmic payback, and you can practically hear the embarrassment at this humiliation laced between his every barking order.
The film is fairly straightforward in that it’s about Yelena carving her way through a progressively worse list of people in violently creative ways (dollar bills, shot glasses, and crucifixes are just a few of the items plunged into sweaty bodies). You can feel the film straining to maintain its momentum, and Đorđe Miljenović’s score pushes the action along with an urgency that reflects a fear of boredom more than anything; at several points when Yelena is dispatching a victim, the music crescendos to a vociferous pitch, as if to draw attention to itself instead of the epic setpiece that’s unfolding.
In the hands of cinematographer Aleksandar Jakonic, the camera doesn’t move so much as it prances. Jakonic likes his dolly shots, and in a way that evokes Sam Raimi’s “Evil Dead” films, the camera tromps about with the freedom of a vengeful spirit, unafraid to get up close to its characters’ bloodied, burnt, and sliced-up visages. At the same time, the film’s lens is always eager to expand perspective for a mordantly humorous effect. Take a sequence where Siddhartha can control two henchmen of an entertainment tycoon and forces them to bash their heads until one of their skulls cracks: While Yelena infiltrates the compound, her skirmishes are interrupted by the two men continually running at each other, and it’s hilarious to witness her try to circumnavigate her way into a compound while evading the head-butting men.
“Karmadonna” is fairly simple in this way, with occasional detours into the lives of other characters like Siddharta’s son Bane (Milos Lolic), but it’s mainly about Yelena, the vengeance quest she’s been conscripted towards, and the bodies left behind in her wake. It’s off-putting and not exactly pleasant viewing, but there’s some apt appeal in its refusal for easy agreeability. Sometimes, we dig ourselves into holes that even the devil won’t follow us through.
Grade: B-
“Karmadonna” premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.
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