There’s something timely about the release of The Bad Batch. In a time when pockets of society seem set against each other, when the governing party looks set to pull the rug from beneath the less fortunate, and build a wall to keep out neighbors, the latest from Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Who Walks Home Alone at Night) draws from the travails we face to craft a a distinct and resonant vision that draws with our world today and is sure to polarize opinion as much our current political climate.
In the not too distant future, the US has embraces a new way to deal with it’s criminals and miscreants. Instead of prison, these undesirable elements are instead thrown into a fenced off wasteland that was once a part of Texas, but now an disparate region, where laws no longer apply. Those who survive their introduction to this brutal region, have clustered in communities, each devising their own ways to survive and for the (un)lucky few, a way live out their days. These are the Bad Batch. Young Arlen (Suki Waterhouse) is prisoner 5054. A tortuous encounter with the cannibalistic bridge folk marks her entry to the wasteland. After escape and finding sanctuary in the community of Comfort, she begins her recovery and adjustment. An encounter with a young girl puts her on a crossroads with Miami Man (Jason Momoa), and sets her on a journey through the region as she once again finds herself questioning her place in society.
Apocalyptic is an easy word to use in describing The Bad Batch, but the film feels far more within reach than that. A segregated part of the US, home to the basket of deplorables that the state no longer wants to deal with, thrown together in the hopes that they’ll eventually finish each other off. While the crimes committed by the characters are never fully explained, you can easily imagine it ranging from murder to something far more mundane, such is the cruelty of the concept and those willing to create it. The result is a dystopia, fueled by 80s and 90s junk, bringing Mad Max/Road Warrior vibes and a hint of electro to a corner of Texas. A vivid world, realized by Amirpour, cinematographer Lyle Vincent, and a pulsating soundtrack.
It’s Arlen’s journey, given life by a very effective debut from Suki Waterhouse. An outcast from ‘normal’ society, she’s once again struggling to find her place in this hellish landscape. From the opening brutal encounter with the Bridge folk, a Max Max meets Pain and Gain cannibalistic group,to wanderings in the wasteland, to the relative luxury of the town of Comfort, a community ran by mustached-Lothario The Dream (an enigmatic turn from Keanu Reeves). While Arlen is on a introspective journey, the film poses some interesting moral questions and critiques of our own society, aspects of which manifest in this wasteland, albeit in more exaggerated forms. While the Bridge folk seem to embody the 1%, the ones at the top feasting on those below, The Dream keeps his hold on power through Cult worship, narcotics and a sewage system, a benefit explained with a wonderful flourish by Reeves. These are characters often painted in shades of grey, or able to turn on a dime with their behavior. It’s clear a chain of events drove them here, and necessity continues to drive them. Perhaps the only pure soul is a wandering hobo (Jim Carrey) whose simple, but kind actions, propel much of the plot. There’s plenty to ponder, The Bad Batch is at times enigmatic, but often as subtle as a brick in the face.
Digging into all these aspects of the film make it sound very colorful, and it is. But The Bad Batch feels intentionally crafted for the midnight movie slot rather than a more general audience. It’s a breezy affair that dips into a well crafted world to tell one tale. A stretched narrative, with patches that feel experimental, and occasionally indulgent will alienate many. But it’s in these quieter moments that the films ruminations of it’s themes is most effective. As Arlen states at one point, “We’re in the darkest corners of the earth, and we’re afraid of our own kind”. The division of the “haves and have-nots” seems to exist within mankind even when there is nothing to have. Despite this, one person’s journey to find their place, or to find a connection can be enough to survive on.
The Bad Batch are elements of society outside of the mainstream, much like the kind of audience that will click with this feature. A subset of viewers that will let this visceral sojourn through a hellish wasteland wash over them will find much to appreciate. An evocative and undoubtable polarizing piece of work from Amirpour, but an engrossing and far bolder vision than much of the homogeneous fare served up these days.
The Bad Batch hits theaters on June 23rd