Bad Batch, The (2017)
Starring Suki Waterhouse, Jason Momoa, Giovanni Ribisi, Yolonda Ross, Keanu Reeves, Jim Carrey, Jayda Fink, Cory Roberts, Louie Lopez, Diego Luna
Directed by Ana Lily Amirpour
Writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour caused a stir with her debut feature, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. It’s a vampire movie (sort of), black and white, dialogue-free, and filled with subtle meaning. As I said in my original review, “While the title A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night pretty much tells you you’re not in for an adrenaline-fueled blood fest, it’s worth stating that this is a very introspective, slow-moving, languid story that takes its time in unspooling. But it’s beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, and lovingly directed – it’s well worth a look.” As time went on, my memories of the movie faded. and I never had the desire to see it again.
Such is not the case with Amirpour’s follow-up film, The Bad Batch. This is the kind of movie that demands to be seen at least a few times. It’s more layered, and more entertaining, than her first. Which is exactly as it should be: A filmmaker needs to stretch and to grow with each outing.
The Bad Batch, while steadfastly its very own thing, may bring to mind certain alternative films. I caught whiffs of El Topo, Tank Girl, The Hills Have Eyes, Six String Samurai, and, oddly enough, The Neon Demon.
The Bad Batch is a post-apocalyptic thriller with a cannibalistic twist. The story follows a lone, disenfranchised young woman, Arlen (Suki Waterhouse), from one strange and dangerous event to the next. Early on in the film she’s taken captive by a nomadic troop of man-eating bodybuilders who manage to take two of her limbs, but not her life. Using every bit of grit and ingenuity she has, Arlen escapes and lands in the ramshackle township of Comfort. Home to a hodgepodge of refugees, and reminiscent of a Burning Man gathering, Comfort has a hierarchy of sorts – and at its head is The Dream (Keanu Reeves), a self-proclaimed sultan complete with a fruitful harem. He tries to draw Arlen into his cultish fold, but she’s on a mission: returning a little girl called Honey (Jayda Fink) to her father, Miami Man (Jason Momoa). And she will stop at nothing to complete it.
There are lots of fascinating details and side-characters in The Bad Batch. Everyone is imbued with personality, hopes, dreams, ambition, and in some cases, cruelty. (Warning: Bad things happen to good bunnies in this story!) Clearly, a lot of thought went into creating this world. Yet, it never feels forced or contrived. Amirpour has done a dandy job of making this barren but burgeoning world seem realistic and fully-formed. Though it’s complex in some ways, The Bad Batch is also simple and straight-forward. While not much is explained or given a backstory, it’s never frustrating or hard to follow.
On the downside, it is too slow in spots – in fact, in these passages I was reminded of the challenging, yet compelling sci-fi cult classic A Boy and His Dog – but fortunately the hypnotic-pop soundtrack, inventive production design, and the majestic cinematography help bridge the duller gaps.
Waterhouse is excellent as Arlen, who is neither good nor bad: The woman is just doing what she can to survive. It’s not an easy role to pull off, but she does it with aplomb. Momoa is compelling as an artistic, pumped-up cannibal, and Reeves is perfect (and pudgy) as an aspiring Adam bent on repopulating the world in his image. There are cameos from Diego Luna, Jim Carrey, and Giovanni Ribisi.
This is definitely not a film for the masses. But if you like your horror with a side of humanity (literally), and welcome food for thought in your sci-fi – then you’ll enjoy The Bad Batch as much as I did.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
