Film Review: BAD THINGS: Stewart Thorndike’s Interesting and Tense Horror Film Has Some Inspired Scenes [Tribeca 2023]

Bad Things Review

Bad Things (2023) Film Review from the 22nd Annual Tribeca Film Festival, a movie written and directed by Stewart Thorndike and starring Gayle Rankin, Hari Nef, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Rad Pereira, Jared Abrahamson, Molly Ringwald, Ariella Josephine, Patrick Klein, Dana Slosar and Holland Smith.

Bad Things, directed by Stewart Thorndike, is an intriguing haunted hotel horror film in the vein of The Shining. While the movie is certainly not on the level of the lengthy masterpiece, The Shining, Bad Things still has a lot to offer viewers who like their scary movies unpredictable and creepy with a good deal of tension sprinkled throughout. Gayle Rankin stars in the picture as Ruthie, who alongside three friends, Cal (Hari Nef), Fran (Annabelle Dexter-Jones) and Maddie (Rad Pereira), will see their bond tested and then some as events spiral out of control in unexpected ways as the plot slowly unleashes its twists and turns.

Gayle Rankin carries much of the movie and turns in a performance that is quite fascinating to watch as the character of Ruthie has an unpredictability that makes the character a bit suspect. We don’t know if she’s a victim or a culprit responsible for some odd events that transpire throughout.

It is the hotel in the movie, Comley Suites, that seems to have some dark secrets buried within the rooms there. There is a reason that Ruthie seems to have inherited it. In the middle of all this is a series of scenes where Ruthie watches a master of hospitality (Molly Ringwald of Sixteen Candles fame) in videos on her phone. Jared Abrahamson serves as Brian, a handyman, who is also a hotel frequenter that is present in the story line for a good reason.

Hari Nef, as Cal, is a wonderfully energetic performer who can add a bit of depth to the story line in any scene that Nef appears in. There is a fair share of deceit in the story line and Nef’s Cal emerges as a character of interest who helps propel the plot forward under unusual circumstances.

There’s a good possibility for the audience to relate to the nightmare that is showcased in Bad Things. Imagine being stuck in a hotel in the middle of a snowy nowhere area with people you are not sure you can trust. Let’s not mention the inability to get an uber to come take you away from it all. That gives you the sense of the kind of dread that Thorndike is conjuring up here. There are also guests who seem largely devoid of feelings which also makes the audience wonder what is going on with them. Are they real or hallucinatory?

All this would be a lot less exciting without the reveals that take place in the later part of the movie. When Brian seems to turn up dead, the group of friends becomes hesitant to trust Ruthie while another key character is taken away from the action and left sleeping at a train station. Does that character return for any particular reason? And, if that person returns, what will happen as the surprises in the plot slowly unveil themselves. There is a chainsaw brought into the action just in case you need to be reminded that this is a true horror movie. You could mistake it for a thriller until some key elements seal the deal to make it as horrific as possible.

Rankin is a reliable performer to carry a plot as delicate as this one. Dexter-Jones adds some fuel to the fire with an intense turn that is also of note. It is Molly Ringwald who steals the movie, though. As the hospitality expert, you’d expect her to have a smaller role here than she has. When Ringwald turns up at one point late in the picture, it’s a true moment of genius in a film which has a few other scenes that feel recycled from different previous horror movies. The scenes with Ringwald are fresh and original. She has one major scene that should make any fan of hers eager to see Bad Things.

Ruthie may or may not want to sell her hotel and the way the final elements of the movie coalesce are not entirely logical. This movie requires the audience to do some of their own thinking as to what is going on during the course of the film, especially at the picture’s conclusion. That may be a demerit for some viewers who like their answers spelled out for them.

Bad Things marks a fascinating return to the big screen for one-time teen idol, Molly Ringwald, while Gayle Rankin could come into stardom with some very unique work in this picture. It’s not going to appeal to everyone but for those who liked the ambiguity of The Shining coupled with some original creepy elements could find quite a few things to admire here.

Rating: 6.5/10

Leave your thoughts on this Bad Things review and the film below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more Tribeca Film Festival news can visit our Tribeca Film Festival Page, our Film Festival Page, and our Film Festival Facebook Page. 

Readers seeking more film reviews can visit our Movie Review Page, our Movie Review Twitter Page, and our Movie Review Facebook Page. 

Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Feedly, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Reddit, Telegram, Mastodon, and Flipboard.