Sundance Review: A Woman Has a Psychotic Break and Acts Like a Dog in BITCH
Bitch is a very weird and uncomfortable film to watch, but it's also unique and a pretty jacked up kind of feel good movie.
The film starts out with a wife and mother named Jill (Marianna Palka) who is obviously not happy with her seemingly "perfect family life" as the first scene features her putting a belt around her neck and trying to hang herself from a dining room ceiling fan. Yeah, this is not your normal feel good movie. This is a pretty dark film that also happens to be a twisted comedy.
The woman survives her suicide attempt when the ceiling fan breaks. She then moves on with her life with a bunch of whining kids and a cheating husband. As we see her dealing with the pressures of life one day she has a psychotic break and starts acting like a rabid dog, and the family is forced to deal with the messed up situation.
They keep her down in the basement living in her own feces. It's absolutely awful, but she won't let anyone come near her without barking at them or trying to bite them.
The husband, Bill, who is played by Jason Ritter, is kind an asshole who really knows nothing about being a dad even though he has three kids. He's a very proud and selfish individual and is forced to learn what it takes to be a real husband and father. He reluctantly steps up to the challenge, and with the help of his sister-in-law, played by Jaimie King, they try to help Jill and be a real family again.
This was a hard movie for me to wrap my brain around because the subject matter of a mom turning into a dog because of the pressures of her life was so weird and unsettling. But the story was built around this broken family unit who comes together to fix themselves as they are trying to help Jill while she's a dog.
At first, I didn't like this movie. It left me with an uncomfortable feeling, but the more I thought about the more positive aspects of the film started to reveal themselves, and after all the chaos and hell that the characters had to go through, it did end on a sweet, uplifting note.
The acting in the film was fantastic! Ritter fit this role perfectly, and King gave one of the best performances of her career.
This movie is definitely not for everyone, but if it sounds like something you might think you'll enjoy then check it out.