A few months ago, most of us had quietly assumed Brian De Palma was done. Health issues had reportedly made securing on-set insurance nearly impossible, and his last film, 2019’s Domino, landed with a thud that felt uncomfortably final. Now, at 85, the man is heading to Portugal this summer to shoot Sweet Vengeance. The church of De Palma, it seems, is still holding services.
What We Know About Sweet Vengeance
Details remain scarce, but the shape of the project is coming into focus. First announced in 2018, Sweet Vengeance is described as being “inspired by two true stories of murders.” De Palma himself has said he’s interested in how true-crime content structures its narratives: “I’m interested in how they tell the story of the crime, so I’ll do it the way [they] do on television.”
That’s a fascinating pivot. De Palma has always been obsessed with voyeurism, surveillance, and the mediated nature of truth—themes that run through Blow Out, Body Double, and even Redacted. Applying his sensibility to the aesthetics of true-crime TV feels less like a late-career gimmick and more like a natural extension of his lifelong obsessions.
The Promise of “Quintessential De Palma Setpieces”
The most exciting tease in the reports is the promise that Sweet Vengeance will feature “two quintessential De Palma setpieces.” If you know his work, you know what this likely means: extended, wordless sequences of unbearable tension, probably involving someone following someone else through a public space, culminating in a stairwell or an elevator.
This is the language of a filmmaker who hasn’t forgotten what he does best. Split-screen. The 360-degree pan. Slow-motion violence that feels operatic. At 85, De Palma is still promising the goods.
A Career That Deserves Reassessment
There’s a strange injustice in how De Palma is often discussed. His 70s peers—Scorsese, Coppola, Spielberg—are treated as untouchable masters. De Palma, despite crafting Carrie, Scarface, The Untouchables, and the first Mission: Impossible, is often remembered as a Hitchcock imitator rather than an original voice. Noah Baumbach’s 2015 documentary, simply titled De Palma, went a long way toward correcting this, but the gap persists.
Quentin Tarantino, never one for understatement, proclaimed last year that De Palma is “a more important filmmaker than Scorsese and Spielberg.” That’s a debate for another article—and probably several bar fights—but the sentiment speaks to a real undercurrent of devotion among cinephiles who believe De Palma’s influence has been unfairly minimized.
Why This Matters
I won’t pretend Domino was anything but a disappointment. The climax had flashes of vintage De Palma, but the rest of the film felt compromised and inert. Yet a single misfire shouldn’t close the book on a 50-year career. The fact that he’s still fighting to get a film made—still chasing the perfect setpiece—deserves respect.
If Sweet Vengeance fails, it won’t matter. De Palma has already earned the right to miss. The question is whether anyone under 40 will even show up to find out.
FAQ: Brian De Palma Sweet Vengeance Production
Why does the true-crime format make sense for a De Palma film?
De Palma has spent his career dissecting how images lie and how observation becomes complicity—themes central to true-crime media. Adopting that format lets him critique the genre while working within it, similar to what he did with found-footage in Redacted.
How does Sweet Vengeance compare to De Palma’s late-career output?
Unlike Passion or Domino, which felt constrained by budgets and casting issues, Sweet Vengeance has been in development since 2018, suggesting a more deliberate, personal project. The explicit promise of “quintessential setpieces” signals a return to the formal ambition that defined his best work.
