Jennifer Connelly and Ben Wishaw both give great performances in a film that is just unfortunately too unfocused. Alice Englert (who also stars as Dylan in the film) makes her directorial debut here with a lot of style. The camerawork was very unique and interesting. The comedy at times I think works quite well and I actually think the film could have benefited from having more of it. The problem is I couldn't tell what the film wanted to be. Serious character study or comedy? It seems that she wanted both but fell short in both avenues. I think her heart was in the right place while making this and it even felt like it was probably personal to her. It's just a shame that I felt at arms length throughout the runtime and could never fully connect with the characters.
13 Reviews
Strong Performances isn't able to save an messy story
chenp-5470830 January 2023
Saw this at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival
"Bad Behaviour" is a story about Lucy, a former child actor, seeks enlightenment at a retreat led by spiritual leader Elon while she navigates her close yet turbulent relationship with her stunt-performer daughter, Dylan. This is Actor Alice Englert first directing feature and Englert seems to be passionate about this project from what I have seen from her Q&A session. However, the film really struggles with poor writing and really unlikeable characters.
The main narrative about a mother and daughter relationship and finding enlightenment seems interesting but unfortunately the writing takes way too long to get to the point and many elements that were included felt like filler. The film contains a great cast and the performances are really good as Jennifer Connelly does a fantastic job with her performance alongside with Ben Whishaw. There are also some great camerawork and sound designs used throughout the film. But the messy writing doesn't help the film to be interesting as the writing drags the story and makes the characters really unlikable. The main character was pretty insufferable and moments between her daughter felt undeveloped or rushed.
The dialogue moments were pretty silly, some of the lightening was really awful and distracting, and the direction was pretty messy as it's clear that Englert isn't sure if the film should be a drama or a dark comedy. There were some moments that were unintentionally hilarious as well. Englert clearly has talent on directing but this film isn't really the best feature to begin with a debut. Overall, it's one of the weaker films I had seen at Sundance.
Rating: C-
"Bad Behaviour" is a story about Lucy, a former child actor, seeks enlightenment at a retreat led by spiritual leader Elon while she navigates her close yet turbulent relationship with her stunt-performer daughter, Dylan. This is Actor Alice Englert first directing feature and Englert seems to be passionate about this project from what I have seen from her Q&A session. However, the film really struggles with poor writing and really unlikeable characters.
The main narrative about a mother and daughter relationship and finding enlightenment seems interesting but unfortunately the writing takes way too long to get to the point and many elements that were included felt like filler. The film contains a great cast and the performances are really good as Jennifer Connelly does a fantastic job with her performance alongside with Ben Whishaw. There are also some great camerawork and sound designs used throughout the film. But the messy writing doesn't help the film to be interesting as the writing drags the story and makes the characters really unlikable. The main character was pretty insufferable and moments between her daughter felt undeveloped or rushed.
The dialogue moments were pretty silly, some of the lightening was really awful and distracting, and the direction was pretty messy as it's clear that Englert isn't sure if the film should be a drama or a dark comedy. There were some moments that were unintentionally hilarious as well. Englert clearly has talent on directing but this film isn't really the best feature to begin with a debut. Overall, it's one of the weaker films I had seen at Sundance.
Rating: C-
A sad waste of some great talent
Boristhemoggy24 December 2023
'Lucy' takes herself off to an enlightenment weekend and we see how she navigates that and her relationship with her stunt performer daughter.
I struggled really to see what this film was actually about. There was very little about the mother/daughter relationship in the film, except for bad feeling and rushed messages and each not really caring for or listening to the other. But there's no context for that or explanation or resolution.
At the retreat the dialogue is stilted, meaningless, bizarre at times and completely empty in terms of narrative or story context.
The acting now and again was fairly good, but I don't think that was as a result of good direction: I think it was sheer luck that the actors had found something to bite on. Other times it was almost painful to watch as they floundered around not really knowing where the film was going, nor what their part in it was.
Not one single character in the entire film was likeable. Most weren't even pitiable. So the film left me throughout it's excruciatingly long run time feeling bereft of any order, or value, or context, or humanity. It was just a boiling pot of mish mashed emotions and nothingness disconnected form anything else and to be very truthful, I hated it.
I struggled really to see what this film was actually about. There was very little about the mother/daughter relationship in the film, except for bad feeling and rushed messages and each not really caring for or listening to the other. But there's no context for that or explanation or resolution.
At the retreat the dialogue is stilted, meaningless, bizarre at times and completely empty in terms of narrative or story context.
The acting now and again was fairly good, but I don't think that was as a result of good direction: I think it was sheer luck that the actors had found something to bite on. Other times it was almost painful to watch as they floundered around not really knowing where the film was going, nor what their part in it was.
Not one single character in the entire film was likeable. Most weren't even pitiable. So the film left me throughout it's excruciatingly long run time feeling bereft of any order, or value, or context, or humanity. It was just a boiling pot of mish mashed emotions and nothingness disconnected form anything else and to be very truthful, I hated it.
How?
watsonroberts-9451226 January 2023
How can a movie be this bad? Especially with Jennifer Connelly and Ben Whishaw as two of its leads.
The movie starts off with a woman, played by JCon, calling her daughter as she's about to go to a retreat with limited ability to contact the outside world. The leader of the retreat is played by Whishaw, who - as far as I can tell - has never given a bad performance in his life, and isn't about to start now.
Visually, it's a decent enough film. Some of the color grading (like in a hotel scene) can get a bit rough, but it's mostly at least competent, and some shots are very well done.
Where the film fails is in literally everything else. The characters are shallow nonsense; Connelly's character just kind of does things to move the plot forward, Whishaw's character is basically a big bag of nothingness, etc. The story veers off in a strange way that doesn't add to or advance anything that came before. The film has nothing going on upstairs and nothing to say beyond, "Influencers bad".
Add to that the complete lack of anything interesting going on... it's not just a bad movie; it's a painfully bad movie. Something like The Room or Birdemic can at least provide some entertainment while being bad; this doesn't even have that. It drags and drags and drags. It feels like it should end wayyy before it does. It's truly a terrible movie. Easily one of the worst I've seen.
The movie starts off with a woman, played by JCon, calling her daughter as she's about to go to a retreat with limited ability to contact the outside world. The leader of the retreat is played by Whishaw, who - as far as I can tell - has never given a bad performance in his life, and isn't about to start now.
Visually, it's a decent enough film. Some of the color grading (like in a hotel scene) can get a bit rough, but it's mostly at least competent, and some shots are very well done.
Where the film fails is in literally everything else. The characters are shallow nonsense; Connelly's character just kind of does things to move the plot forward, Whishaw's character is basically a big bag of nothingness, etc. The story veers off in a strange way that doesn't add to or advance anything that came before. The film has nothing going on upstairs and nothing to say beyond, "Influencers bad".
Add to that the complete lack of anything interesting going on... it's not just a bad movie; it's a painfully bad movie. Something like The Room or Birdemic can at least provide some entertainment while being bad; this doesn't even have that. It drags and drags and drags. It feels like it should end wayyy before it does. It's truly a terrible movie. Easily one of the worst I've seen.
Discombobulated, and then some
bshort-1852621 May 2023
Maybe I'm just stupid but I didn't get it. Ok, so she (Jennifer Connelly) has a bad relationship with her daughter. Why not just attack that theme head on. Do we really need to see all those strange group therapy sessions with that disturbing leader, ...juxtaposed with the stunt daughter doing clumsy rolls. I couldn't wait for this to end. And a few times, I thought it would. But then comes the violence followed by the meeting with the daughter and the lawyer. What in the world does it add to the movie to bring in a romantic (and highly awkward) kiss with the lawyer. You would think that the director could fabricate some tension between mother and daughter but I felt none. Did I really give this a 2 instead of a 1?
Stellar casting can't make Bad Behaviour good
fanboycantina27 January 2023
Premiered at Sundance, Bad Behaviour is a disappointing morass about a former child actor and her daughter dealing with their complicated past experiences to find the loving bond and meaning they've been looking for. Despite a stellar cast with Jennifer Connelly and Ben Wishaw, this rudderless film with two separate storylines that eventually intersect is a meandering disappointment. Did I really just watch two minutes of characters just ordering breakfast? There's a glimmer of an interesting take on mother and daughter relationships, though nothing is plausible and it's hard to care about any of its characters.
Bad Behaviour is a sad waste of amazing acting talent.
msbreviews26 January 2023
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"Bad Behaviour boasts an all-in, powerful performance from Jennifer Connelly, but it's too messy, tonally unbalanced, and narratively all-over-the-place to connect with. It wastes too much time being nonsensical before the mother-daughter relationship gets interesting. Disappointing.
I'm unaware of how much of a personal project this is or even if it's personal at all. Still, Bad Behaviour is one of those films I just couldn't connect with in any shape or form. There's a layer of exaggeration and overdramatization that makes it all feel fictional and less grounded. And that, to me, turns into a massive obstacle to overcome. I hope others can feel the opposite."
Rating: D+
"Bad Behaviour boasts an all-in, powerful performance from Jennifer Connelly, but it's too messy, tonally unbalanced, and narratively all-over-the-place to connect with. It wastes too much time being nonsensical before the mother-daughter relationship gets interesting. Disappointing.
I'm unaware of how much of a personal project this is or even if it's personal at all. Still, Bad Behaviour is one of those films I just couldn't connect with in any shape or form. There's a layer of exaggeration and overdramatization that makes it all feel fictional and less grounded. And that, to me, turns into a massive obstacle to overcome. I hope others can feel the opposite."
Rating: D+
Bad Behaviour
CinemaSerf10 January 2024
My first solo film of 2024. Just me in a cinema and after half an hour I was beginning to understand why! "Lucy" (Jennifer Connelly) is trying to have a phone conversation with her daughter "Dylan" (auteur Alice Englert) whilst en route to a remote Oregon retreat. She's thousands of miles away in New Zealand and we get the distinct impression that she's not especially interested. That's a feeling that's quite contagious as we all now endure her experience at the spiritual "Loveranch". A supposedly tech-free place run by "Elon" (Ben Whishaw) that encourages people to open their hearts, their souls and their brains to meaningless waffle about finding yourself. Now insofar as this is supposed to be a parody of this kind of rip-off facility, it sort of works - especially with the arrival of model and DJ "Beverly" (Dasha Nekrasova) to whom "Lucy" takes not just an instant dislike but also the leg of a chair! Meantime the daughter has an incident of her own on the whacky film set where she is stunt artist. That results in her losing her job and racing home to be by the side of her now incarcerated mother. If you weren't bored already, then the best is yet to come - a positively nauseating tale of family discord, a suicide attempt involving some pills and the shallow end of a swimming pool and, finally, some meaningful conversations amidst the forest with running water gently trickling a-foot! Can they salvage the relationship? Does it need savaging? Do we care? Perhaps this read better as a script, and there are times when I felt the wrath of "Lucy" emanating from the screen, but for the most part this is the stuff of a really poor stage play that reminded me again that Ben Whishaw is no great shakes at all on the big screen - indeed, I wonder if he was actually acting at all! As "Yoda" might have said - one fun scene does not a movie make.
Overall a beautiful movie
avaritagrace-9221526 January 2023
It had some really funny and heartwarming moments. There were a couple of scenes, towards the end, that felt very authentic and emotional. I think that the script brought up some lesser explored themes that I connected with. Jennifer Connelly is superb as always. I felt like the story could have been told a little bit more cohesively. But I think that Alice Englert, who also wrote and co-starred in it, did a great job for her directorial debut. Jennifer's clothing aesthetic comforted me and I will love her character for a long time. She has great comedic abilities even if she's often been typecasted to darker roles. There were some beautiful shots, especially the one at the end... that was absolutely stunning.
Quirky but drably morose little drama
danieljfarthing4 January 2024
In quirky but drab little drama "Bad Behaviour" troubled Jennifer Connelly has unresolved issues with her deceased mum and her stuntwoman daughter (who's shooting a flick in New Zealand) so she checks into Ben Whishaw's new-age hippy-dippy California retreat where she becomes increasingly irked by the pretentiousness of fellow attendees like fashion model Dasha Nekrasova. That leads to the film's one bright spark, but from there it descends back into banality as mother & daughter awkwardly crunch towards reconciliation. Though her performance as the daughter is solid, Alice Englert's debut as writer / director ends up as a sadly morose turd. Flush it.
Take a peek at reality trough the "truth lens" and be prepared to cringe
phiwiphi21 January 2024
This story will make you uncomfortable and you'd never expect such inexplicable beauty to shine through in protagonists - so deeply scared by trauma. As the plot unfolds, a facade of socially desirable pretense is peeled away. Sarcasm and irony are tactfully applied to deconstruct the myth that psychological turbulence can ever be restrained by shallow and shiny social norms. The movie will make you wonder whether true strength of character is measured in ability to reign in impulses or the courage to tear down mendacity. Masterful performance by a brilliant cast. One would only hope for an equally engaging sequel from the pen of the same versatile writer-director-protagonist.
Jennifer Connelly excels in her devestating true to life performance as a mentally torn up mother.
imseeg22 December 2023
Starts out as a subtle, but very efficient witty satire about people trying to heal themselves in a meditative retreat weekend, but then suddenly half way through (just as I was wondering if anything dramatic would happen) things turn bleak with an out of wack violent plot turn that I really hadnt seen coming.
The good: a truly brilliant acting performance by Jennifer Connelly, whom we all know from her pretty face roles in the nineties and on (Top Gun), but Top Gun fans stay away from this movie, because this is serious hardhitting drama and no fluffy action romance.
Jennifer Connelly now shows her real acting capabilities with a devestating performance as a mother, who is "DEAD INSIDE" and cant stand to live in her own skin and who has passed her mental pain on to her daughter with a lot of soul wrecking negative fallout. And that is the core of this subtle, bleak drama.
Art house movie fans beware, this is one solid acting gem, with long unedited takes, beautiful photography and sound. I truly applaud the direction by Alice Englert!
Slow, but gripping. Bleak, yet still warm and endearing. Cold, but so humanlike. I am impressed!
The good: a truly brilliant acting performance by Jennifer Connelly, whom we all know from her pretty face roles in the nineties and on (Top Gun), but Top Gun fans stay away from this movie, because this is serious hardhitting drama and no fluffy action romance.
Jennifer Connelly now shows her real acting capabilities with a devestating performance as a mother, who is "DEAD INSIDE" and cant stand to live in her own skin and who has passed her mental pain on to her daughter with a lot of soul wrecking negative fallout. And that is the core of this subtle, bleak drama.
Art house movie fans beware, this is one solid acting gem, with long unedited takes, beautiful photography and sound. I truly applaud the direction by Alice Englert!
Slow, but gripping. Bleak, yet still warm and endearing. Cold, but so humanlike. I am impressed!
Deserves a Better Grade
hailtotheredskins20 January 2024
This movie was well written. The acting was extremely good. This movie won't serve most people because it doesn't have aliens, gangsters, monsters zombies, or major crisis that needs to be averted.
The backdrop isn't the predictable NYC nor any other major city. The characters are average people. No high profile, rich, and powerful careers. This film was about a woman struggling with indifference, regret, guilt, and shame. She carried anger around for the way her mother treated her and is reflecting if she hadn't done the same to her adult daughter.
Mom went to a retreat to reconnect to an inner peace. Emotions were brought to the surface that we're dormant for so long. I know a few women in my life that act just like the mom did here played by Jennifer Connelly. The daughter, played by Alice Englert was equally impressive.
A great story about people suffering but trying to do their best. Some may say it's a movie about a mother and daughter dealing with mental health issues. Perhaps. I saw it more as two women dealing with their past, present, and future, like so many others, at this moment in time.
The backdrop isn't the predictable NYC nor any other major city. The characters are average people. No high profile, rich, and powerful careers. This film was about a woman struggling with indifference, regret, guilt, and shame. She carried anger around for the way her mother treated her and is reflecting if she hadn't done the same to her adult daughter.
Mom went to a retreat to reconnect to an inner peace. Emotions were brought to the surface that we're dormant for so long. I know a few women in my life that act just like the mom did here played by Jennifer Connelly. The daughter, played by Alice Englert was equally impressive.
A great story about people suffering but trying to do their best. Some may say it's a movie about a mother and daughter dealing with mental health issues. Perhaps. I saw it more as two women dealing with their past, present, and future, like so many others, at this moment in time.
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