Reviews: The Bad Batch (2016) Movie Review
Genres: Horror, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Action, Romance
Subgenres: Thriller, Cannibalism, Desolate, Drama, Sci-Fi, Torture
Where does The Bad Batch (2016) stand among horror films? Our review examines the scares, pacing, and what makes it unique in the genre.
The Bad Batch (2016) is a 1h 58-min rate R American romantic thriller horror film that was shot in Niland, California, USA; Los Angeles, California; El Mirage Dry Lake, San Bernardino County, California, and Aviation Warehouse, El Mirage, California. Director and writer Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014), A Little Suicide (2012)) did an excellent job executing her second full-length movie. I was in total awe while watching Ana’s dystopic tale but this film is not for everyone so of course some may like and some may hate it, but it is a movie that I will see again soon. There are a few aspects of the film the stuck with me (about two weeks later) because the material was interesting although there was not much spoken dialogue as one would like but the strong visual style did justice to the movie.
The Bad Batch revolves around Bad Batch member Arlen (Suki Waterhouse - Love, Rosie (2014), Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016), Insurgent (2015)) who had to fight to save her life after being released from prison. Arlen was released into the desert which brought tragedy upon her as a group of desert cannibals took her hostage. Arlen barely made it out alive as she escapes from the cannibals and found a compound that offers her a life of stability in the arid wastelands. The Dream (Keanu Reeves - The Matrix (1999), Speed (1994), The Devil’s Advocate (1997), John Wick (2014)) is the leader of the compound. Arlen thought that she was safe and decides to explore a little bit only to find a few scavenging residents. She decides to take one of the cannibal kids which made Miami Man (Jason Momoa - Stargate: Atlantis (2005-2009), Conan the Barbarian (2011), Baywatch (1999-2001), Bullet to the Head (2012)) furious and vows to stop at nothing until he gets back what Arlen took from him.
The characters in The Bad Batch are not the typical average characters you would see in a movie - these characters are somewhat broken if you compare them to people you would see in a normal society. I love that almost every face in this beautiful glorifying movie has a story that is mesmerizing. Suki Waterhouse gave us a brilliant performance as she played Arlen with several personalities and touched me emotionally, especially when she tried to think of herself as whole again. Keanu Reeves also gave a phenomenal performance with his role as The Dream and Jim Carrey along with Jason Momoa did not fall far behind. Horror fans should see The Bad Batch at their earliest convenience because it is a movie that should not be missed with its several underlying hidden messages.
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- The Bad Batch Rating Scores
- Our Score: 8/10
- Overall Score: 6.25/10
- IMDB: 5.2/10
- MetaCritic: 6.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 4.5/10
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