Bitch Review
By: Nik S
Director: Marianna Palka
Producer(s): Elijah Wood, Brett W. Bachman, Sharon Bordas, Luke Daniels, Mali Elfman
Starring: Marianna Palka, Jaime King, Jason Ritter, Brighton Sharbino, Rio Mangini
Production Company: Company X, MarVista Entertainment, Spectre Vision, Tunnel Post
Distributor: Dark Sky Films, MPI Media Group
Runtime: 96 minutes
Jill (Marianna Palka) is an overworked mother of four with a unfaithful husband Bill (Jason Ritter). After attempting to take her own life, and failing, her mind becomes warped and she believes she's a dog. Bill must then realize the hectic lifestyle of having to raise four children while managing his career. Bill has a hard time accepting the fact that his wife is mentally unstable and that he must man the household. He must work with and battle his in-laws (Jaime King) for his family and what will be done to Jill.
The movie starts off making it look like Jill is going to be the protagonist, dealing with mental stability and her world that is falling apart around her, but it's not really about her. Bill, from the moment of Jill's breakdown, takes the lead role as he's faced to deal with the toxicity that his masculinity has created. He has revelations about his actions, albeit they start about his genitals, but he's focused solely on himself that he constantly overlooks his family. Ritter does well at times especially during his darker moments of slowly losing what he never realized was precious to him, but other times comes off over-the-top. Marianna's character has no development whatsoever and is reduced to more of a movie monster, since whenever she's seen in her dog-like state she's covered in dirt and feces, with a shaking camera pointed at her in a dark lit room. Instead of feeling pity or compassion towards her, you feel uncomfortable. The rest of the cast seem to only have two emotions at one time, flipping between the two each scene.
Palka is the weakest force of the whole film, both in front and behind the camera. She can't seem to balance the dark, bitter, humor with the intense melodrama the screenplay calls for. The movie can never seem to find the right tone for each scene. Palka tries to put together so many kinds of atmospheres in her movie that they seem to get lost easily in a cluttered mess. When she tries to do a surreal feel, it feels noisy and annoying. Her interesting premise is sadly not able to carry the film as far as it could go as the satire ends up feeling redundant. Instead of creating a point about women's health and the patriarchy, the movie instead focuses on one man's evolution of jerk to father.
If the film was able to focus more on the dramatic evolution of Bill, and less on trying to send a very bleak message the film would have been so much better. The film tried to do so much at once and failed at every delivery. If they ever do a recut of the film I might be interested in watching to see if they fix any of the initial problems, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.
Director: Marianna Palka
Producer(s): Elijah Wood, Brett W. Bachman, Sharon Bordas, Luke Daniels, Mali Elfman
Starring: Marianna Palka, Jaime King, Jason Ritter, Brighton Sharbino, Rio Mangini
Production Company: Company X, MarVista Entertainment, Spectre Vision, Tunnel Post
Distributor: Dark Sky Films, MPI Media Group
Runtime: 96 minutes
Bitch, not to be confused with the 1979 film The Bitch, is a feminist dark-humor drama that is written, directed, and stars Marianna Palka. This is her fourth feature film and she really attempts to pull out as many punches as she can. The film aims to address the melancholy lifestyle of the stay at home mom. The film rests on hoping the title alone will work as its satirical joke and the overall message. The overall message comes off more brutish than anything else, with some edgy takes on mental health and failing relationships.
Jill (Marianna Palka) is an overworked mother of four with a unfaithful husband Bill (Jason Ritter). After attempting to take her own life, and failing, her mind becomes warped and she believes she's a dog. Bill must then realize the hectic lifestyle of having to raise four children while managing his career. Bill has a hard time accepting the fact that his wife is mentally unstable and that he must man the household. He must work with and battle his in-laws (Jaime King) for his family and what will be done to Jill.
The movie starts off making it look like Jill is going to be the protagonist, dealing with mental stability and her world that is falling apart around her, but it's not really about her. Bill, from the moment of Jill's breakdown, takes the lead role as he's faced to deal with the toxicity that his masculinity has created. He has revelations about his actions, albeit they start about his genitals, but he's focused solely on himself that he constantly overlooks his family. Ritter does well at times especially during his darker moments of slowly losing what he never realized was precious to him, but other times comes off over-the-top. Marianna's character has no development whatsoever and is reduced to more of a movie monster, since whenever she's seen in her dog-like state she's covered in dirt and feces, with a shaking camera pointed at her in a dark lit room. Instead of feeling pity or compassion towards her, you feel uncomfortable. The rest of the cast seem to only have two emotions at one time, flipping between the two each scene.
Palka is the weakest force of the whole film, both in front and behind the camera. She can't seem to balance the dark, bitter, humor with the intense melodrama the screenplay calls for. The movie can never seem to find the right tone for each scene. Palka tries to put together so many kinds of atmospheres in her movie that they seem to get lost easily in a cluttered mess. When she tries to do a surreal feel, it feels noisy and annoying. Her interesting premise is sadly not able to carry the film as far as it could go as the satire ends up feeling redundant. Instead of creating a point about women's health and the patriarchy, the movie instead focuses on one man's evolution of jerk to father.
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