An American soldier is unable to cope with the realities of daily life after he returns from his tour of duty in Iraq.
There’s no getting around it: “Badland” really swings for the fences. Set in the aftermath of the Iraq War, the film centers on Jerry (Jamie Draven), an American soldier who comes home haunted by PTSD. What starts as a deep dive into a man’s unraveling quickly shifts gears into a kind of road trip from hell. After Jerry commits an unspeakable act of violence against his family, he takes off across the rural West with his young daughter. Along the way, they run into other broken people, including a fellow vet played by Joe Morton.
If you’re into performances that don’t pull any punches, “Badland” delivers in spades. Jamie Draven completely inhabits Jerry, so much so that even when his choices stretch believability, it’s tough to look away. Joe Morton, though he doesn’t get a ton of screen time, leaves a mark with a quietly heartbreaking turn. And visually, the movie’s a stunner. Carlo Varini’s cinematography isn’t just about making the West look pretty; those empty, endless landscapes are like a mirror reflecting Jerry’s inner wreckage. The desolation onscreen feels inseparable from the characters’ own emptiness. If you’re drawn to films that stare unflinchingly at the fallout of war, “Badland” gives you plenty to chew on—though sometimes it lays it on a bit thick.
But let’s be real, clocking in at just under three hours, “Badland” is a real slog. Scenes that should be tight and suspenseful drag on, and by the midway point, the unrelenting bleakness starts to feel more punishing than profound. The script demands a lot from the audience, and not always in ways that pay off. That opening, where Jerry, in a PTSD-fueled rage, murders his pregnant wife and sons but spares his daughter, is so grim it almost tips into shock value. And the plot only gets more far-fetched: somehow, Jerry and his daughter manage to travel across small-town America, picking up odd jobs and blending in, even though they’re supposed to be the focus of a massive manhunt with their faces plastered all over the news. At one point, Jerry even strikes up a friendship with the local sheriff, who somehow never puts two and two together. Talk about suspension of disbelief.
At its core, “Badland” wants to be a raw, unfiltered look at trauma, and when it’s firing on all cylinders, it comes close. But the movie’s relentless misery, overcooked plot, and lapses in logic make it a tough sell for anyone who isn’t a glutton for punishment. For all its intensity and gorgeous visuals, the film can’t quite lift itself out from under the weight of its own ambitions.
Available on Blu-ray™ and DVD June 23rd
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