‘Bad Living’ Review: A Polished But Depressing Drama of Mean Motherhood and Toxic Femininity
variety.comJessica Kiang Misery loves company, which may account for Portuguese director João Canijo’s decision to split his angst-ridden hotel-set project into two complementary films.
Both were selected for the Berlinale, with the half centered on the hotel guests (“Living Bad”) landing in the Encounters section, and “Bad Living,” which revolves around the hotel staff, taking a main competition slot.
It makes reviewing one without reference to the other something of an exercise in shadowboxing, especially when, as in “Bad Living,” the minute observation of its deteriorating female relationships could have used some kind of counterpoint, if only to make an unremittingly bleak, fractious 127 minutes pass a little faster.
They may work in hospitality, but the women of “Bad Living” live in a draining, near-permanent state of hostility. The heartbreak hotel location is perhaps the film’s biggest star.
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