The science of revenge movies explained

Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold.

Well by that logic, John Wick must be a molecular gastronomist, emotionlessly icing some 78 baddies after an ill-tempered Mafioso kills his dog and leaves him for dead. Yes, a rate of one bodybag every two minutes.

That slain pooch got on his 'Wick' all right, and animal deaths aren’t as rare to revenge movies as you might expect…

Compiling all the reasons why the anti-heroes of our most popular revenge movies choose to exact bloody vengeance, this thoroughly researched infographic (made exclusively for ShortList) lays bare the formula of this genre and shows why most of these borderline sociopaths do what they do.

Food for thought.
 
John Wick is out now on Blu-Ray and DVD