Bad Things
Written and Directed by Stewart Thorndike
Starring Gayle Rankin, Hari Nef, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Rad Pereira
Unrated
Runtime 83 minutes
Available on Shudder and AMC+ August 18th

by Tori Potenza, Staff Writer

Trauma, motherhood, and haunted spaces. This is a perfect horror combination and one that director and writer Stewart Thorndike expertly explores in her new feature Bad Things. And as the title promises, there are plenty of bad things going on in this feature. Thorndike said she wanted to see just what women can do separated from the male-dominated world, and with a cast of almost all women we as the audience get to see just what they are capable of. While this may subvert our ideas about what womanhood and motherhood look like, there is no denying that there is something deeply primal and feminine about all of the horrors enacted in Bad Things.

The film follows Ruthie (Gayle Rankin), who inherits an abandoned hotel after her grandmother’s passing. While she plans to sell it, her partner Cal (Hari Nef) hopes that the hotel could be a brand new start for the two. They decide to get out of the city and spend the weekend there having fun with their friends Maddie (Rad Pereira) and Fran (Annabelle Dexter-Jones) while Ruthie decides what she wants to do with the place. What should be a fun carefree weekend quickly turns dark as it seems some sinister presence hangs over the hotel. The longer they stay, the more secrets are unearthed, threatening the mental, emotional, and physical security of all who stay there.

It is hard not to draw comparisons to The Shining, but what is interesting is how Thorndike takes classic male-dominated horror stories and applies them to this story about women and motherhood. The setting of the abandoned hotel during a snowstorm, a pair of creepy ghostly twins, and the retro decor that feels like you are pulled back into another era, even the struggle that the characters go through and how they react to the hotel draws clear comparisons. Yet the hotel feels feminine, in its design and even how it seems to be a place for trauma to be birthed out into the world. There is also a very memorable sequence of liquid leaking from the walls that look like milk. There are also great comparisons to be made with films like Psycho, and the score has a very 80s John Carpenter vibe. While there are plenty of similarities, many of the most interesting aspects are how these stories differ and how a feminine perspective morphs these references and tropes into something totally different from what classic horror fans know.

Much of the small cast has been known for work they have done amongst larger ensemble casts; Rankin in the series GLOW, Nef with their recent appearance in Barbie, and even Dexter-Jones with her various appearances in Succession. So it was nice seeing them perform with a smaller cast that gives all of them a chance to shine. Gayle Rankin is terrific in the lead role of Ruthie. Her character has a colder demeanor than the others in the group but as we learn more about her personal trauma and how it ties into her family and the hotel itself, we see how her character is much more nuanced. This offers a difference from many male leads that portrayed similar characters. Another stand-out appearance comes from Molly Ringwald, who looks incredible in this movie and seems to have fun playing a more mysterious character. Given the complex relationships that run throughout the film, everyone does a great job showing how the dynamics change from person to person.

Stewart Thorndike is a talented writer and director, she creates a fascinating little world that looks amazing and has plenty of interesting characters to spend time with. According to Thorndike, this is meant to be the second in a trilogy of films dealing with the power of motherhood, the first being her 2014 film, Lyle. So it will be interesting to see what terrifying matriarchal horror story she conjures next. It is ultimately a reminder that motherhood and womanhood are not always aligned with beautiful, tender, or good. There is pain, struggle, trauma, and even violence that come along with the feminine. It is also an interesting meditation on how places can hold trauma and how it affects those who spend too long in those spaces.