Sundance 2023: Great Cast Doesn’t Outweigh “Bad Behaviour”

Jennifer Connelly stars as Lucy, a former child star looking for enlightenment. She heads to a mountain resort to join her guru, Elon Bello (Ben Whishaw), for a silent retreat. Just before the phones go off, Lucy checks in with her stunt-performing daughter, Dylan (Alice Englert), who doesn’t seem very concerned about her mother’s latest quest for peace. But, peace will have to wait when a young influencer/DJ joins the retreat and brings out the worst in Lucy.

Bad Behaviour is the feature debut for writer-director Alice Englert. Though the film includes talented actors, they are not enough to bring this story to a point of connection for the audience. The different story elements seem random, making it a struggle to understand the main point of the film, which I think is supposed to revolve around the strained relationship between a daughter and her mother. While Connelly does all the heavy lifting with her performance, Englert’s debut is devoid of focus and sentiment.