The Last Temptation of Becky
by Hope Madden
One of the best things about The Last Temptation of Becky is that it will introduce a lot of people to a very fun action/horror/comedy series.
Since 2020, Lulu Wilson has portrayed the angry—really, really angry—Becky. In the first episode, an unhinged 13-year-old lays waste to the skinheads who break into her family’s vacation rental. Three years later, a local group of white supremacists runs afoul of the violent teen. Indeed, so effective was Becky with the carnage that the CIA decided they had a spot for her.
Which brings us to Episode 3. Becky, still weak at reining in her temper, is sent undercover into Poland to check out what’s going on at the Wolf’s Lair, an inn and museum that was once Hitler’s base of operations.
Jenn Wexler co-writes and directs the third installment with the same punk rock energy that made her 2018 feature The Ranger such fun. Wexler amplifies the chaotic violence and campy humor of the franchise with a throwback B-movie vibe that suits it.
Neil Patrick Harris is General Wilhelm Reuss, and he’s been waiting a long time for the key Kevin James tried to steal from Becky’s family back in 2020. What does it do? I’m not spilling the kraut, but it’s an over-the-top riot that leads to several triumphs of horror comedy.
Harris delivers the contemptible arrogance you’ve come to expect, and Catherine Walker is an icy delight as his wife, Helga. The Reuss children (Noah Leggott and Aoife Hughes) give our young heroine more age-appropriate foes, and Wexler takes advantage with some of the film’s funniest and bloodiest fight choreography.
The Last Temptation of Becky delivers laughs aplenty but the film is unapologetically violent as well. It doesn’t seek to teach or tame Becky, just to point her in the direction where doing harm will do the most good.
Wexler and her game ensemble lean hard into everything the previous two efforts did so well: kill Nazis. It’s possible that nothing is more cathartic to watch on screen. The result is a wild, unpredictable, lawless pleasure.
