First-time director Sarah Daggar-Nickson's 2018 film A Vigilante is the story of Sadie, an abused wife-turned-vigilante who manages to escape from her violent husband and begins to study martial arts, survival skills and boxing so that she can help others in a position similar to her own. At the same time, after months of hiding from her husband, she begins to actively hunt him down, knowing that killing him is the only way that she will become truly free from the threat of his violence.
Duggar-Nickson, who both wrote and directed the film, was inspired by the strength and the bravery that she saw in real-life survivors of domestic violence, and the challenges that they faced in their lives every day even after they had escaped their violent spouses.
A Vigilante premiered at the South By Southwest festival on March 10, 2018. The film was critically well-received, and praised for both its dramatic tension and the performances of its leading actress Olivia Wilde, who played the role of Sadie. Daggar-Nickson received two award nominations; the Audience Award, in the Narrative Feature category, and the SXSW Film Festival Game Changer Award.
