The Bad Batch may look like a cookie-cutter, post-apocalypse movie. It's anything but. Let's start with the fact that there was never an apocalypse in its timeline. So what, you might ask, leads to the chaos, cannibalism, and collapse of human decency that writer/director Ana Lily Amirpour seers into her sophomore feature's every moment? I'll leave that for you to discover. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled and your ears perked, even as the studio logos pop up: Amirpour’s critique of the extremes to which so-called polite society will contort in order to protect itself from “the other” is rich, dense, and deadly serious. It's also a showcase for mushroom-gobbling visuals that almost match the twisted images the filmmaker’s ideas will tattoo on your brain. The Bad Batch could take place two sand dunes over from Fury Road’s fiery, metal-smashing Hell—were it not about an Armageddon already in progress.
Listen to Kicking the Seat Podcast #232 and #233 for a look at the movies of Ana Lily Amirpour--and an interview with the filmmaker herself!