★★½☆☆
3 August 2017
A movie review of BITCH. |
“Your parents already hated me before this,” Bill (Jason Ritter)
BITCH, depressingly, could be set in any era. Female subservience has not been eradicated. As enlightened as some like to think they are, but how much of society really is? (That THE HANDMAID’S TALE is getting another adaptation taps into the continued stalling of equality and equity.) The conundrum faced by filmmakers is how do you present the pressure on women in an engaging fashion. Writer-director-star Marianna Palka utilises a gimmick that is different, but ultimately frustrates.
BITCH, depressingly, could be set in any era. Female subservience has not been eradicated. As enlightened as some like to think they are, but how much of society really is? (That THE HANDMAID’S TALE is getting another adaptation taps into the continued stalling of equality and equity.) The conundrum faced by filmmakers is how do you present the pressure on women in an engaging fashion. Writer-director-star Marianna Palka utilises a gimmick that is different, but ultimately frustrates.
Looking after four children, a husband not providing any physical or emotional support and who is having an affair causes Jill (Marianna Palka) to have an understandable mental breakdown. The warning signs were there. She kept begging hubby, Bill (Jason Ritter), to give her some time to go to an artist’s retreat. His preventing her necessary respite, his lack of empathy, and neglect of the family, is the last straw.
As the breadwinner, Bill probably believes he is doing his part. Working long hours in a firm cutting staff, all he sees are his burdens. The ruthless, mercilessness of capitalism is not overtly stated, but it hums in the background when Bill engages with his boss, Steven (Roger Guenveur Smith). When the mechanics of society runs low on compassion, will that not permeate into the home?
Jill’s psychological break takes the form of acting like a feral dog, living naked in her own filth in the family basement. Pride prevents Bill from seeking help beyond Jill’s sister, Beth (Jaime King). These are broad brushstrokes, and this is the problem with the movie. The lack of subtlety and nuance dampens the impact. Props, though, to Palka as a director dealing with some of the problems women face in society. In ALWAYS WORTHY (2015) an aspiring actress battles low self-esteem, and GOOD DICK (2008) looks at an abused woman addicted to pornography.
The conclusion here is unsurprising, but necessary for those guys who do not realise you have to help out at home. The moral lesson, aimed at the selfish, has a whiff of TV movie of the week. BITCH is in the same category as films that need to remind the unkind that immigrants are people too. These flicks are frustrating to a leftie, progressive audience, though necessary for those who find it difficult to walk in other’s shoes.