Bad Hair (2020)

In 1989 an ambitious young woman gets a weave in order to succeed in the image-obsessed world of music television. However, her flourishing career may come at a great cost when she realizes that her new hair may have a mind of its own.

Director:

Justin Simien

Writer:

Justin Simien

Stars:

Zaria Kelley, Corinne Massiah, Elle Lorraine

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Zaria Kelley	...	Young Anna
Corinne Massiah	...	Young Linda
Elle Lorraine	...	Anna Bludso
Jay Pharoah	...	Julius
Moses Storm	...	Male NV6 Exec
Madeleine Byrne	...	RMV VJ
James Van Der Beek	...	Grant Madison
Ashley Blaine Featherson	...	Rosalyn
Lena Waithe	...	Brook-Lynne
Yaani King Mondschein	...	Sista Soul
Judith Scott	...	Edna
Vanessa Williams	...	Zora
Tiffany Black	...	Block Producer
Kelly Rowland	...	Sandra
Jamila Glass	...	Back-Up Dancer #1

Storyline

During the rise of New Jack Swing in 1989, an ambitious young woman from Compton, L.A. aspires to become a VJ but is told she doesn't have the right hair, the right face, or the right skin color to succeed in the image obsessed world of music television. She strikes a Faustian bargain with the new head of a music network who tells her to get a weave, but this new hairstyle turns out to be anything but easy to maintain.

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Plot Keywords:

music video | attempted rape | compton | job interview | bus | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Vanessa Williams and Usher previously co-starred in the drama Light It Up (1999).

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Soundtracks

I'm Groovin'
Written by John Costello and Performed by Dale Edmondson and John Costello

User Reviews

Killer Weave

Justin Simien takes a complex message about societal expectations and delivers it using a satirical horror film as his medium. Bad Hair started out with telling the story of a young woman in the entertainment industry who struggles to climb the corporate ladder and afford rent spikes in her recently gentrified neighborhood. Throughout the film, there is an embedded directive that shows the audience how POC's are expected to take their culture and force it into a cookie cutter mold to make other people feel more comfortable. This film also portrays how easy it is to lose sight of one's true self when striving toward a career goal, to the extent of becoming an entirely new person.

For the first half of this movie, I often found my thoughts bouncing between "i thought this was satire?" and "I thought this was horror?" Bad Hair definitely took a while to build to that point, but it was entertaining throughout the entirety.

Elle Lorraine's performance was excellent and came across as very genuine. Vanessa Williams was true to her villainous character and Lena Waithe was a great supporting actress who gave comedic relief at all the right moments. Usher made a few appearances, but they were short lived. Kelly Rowland's scenes were minimal.

The horror elements were quirky, unnerving, and suspenseful. Despite the absurdity of the concept of a "bad weave coming to life," Justin did well on this delivery without compromising quality.

Details

Official Sites:

Hulu

Country:

USA

Release Date:

23 October 2020 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bad Hair

Company Credits

Production Co:

Culture Machine, Sight Unseen Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1