Bad B*tch is the writing and directing debut of Trenton Judson. The official plot synopsis (taken directly from IMDb) is “A small-town businesswoman wreaks havoc on a local gang after they tear her community apart.” While technically true, that is hardly the focus of the narrative, as it takes until the 110-minute mark of the 124-minute runtime to get there. Is the main thrust of the plot worth waiting for the revenge to arrive finally?
Jojo (Erica Boozer) leads a relatively quiet life in her small Washington state town. When not running her family’s housing construction business, she bides her time reading every book in the library. Jojo’s best friend is Estella (Grace Field), and the two of them couldn’t be more different. Estella is more into going out and partying, which clearly goes against her friend’s more leisurely ways. But the two have deep conversations and clearly enjoy each other’s company. But their town is plagued by Colt (Judson), who is convinced that due to his family’s money and status in the city, he and his friends — Harland (Josh Russell), Finn (Marie Wetherell), and Jace (Eduardo Jesus Cardoso) — can do anything they want. Unfortunately, the Sheriff (Terry Kiser) seems to agree, though Deputy Freddy (Christian Alexander Morgan) wishes to do the right thing. But one day, Colt and his goon squad go too far, putting Jojo on the path of retaliation and true justice.
“…Colt and his goon squad go too far, putting Jojo on the path of retaliation and true justice.”
Bad B*tch is far too long, as 20 minutes could have easily been edited out, possibly more. The film opens with Jojo and Estella enjoying some ice cream when Colt busts in. He and his friends intimidate a few people and eat a little girl’s ice cream cone, though they didn’t actually break any laws here. Outside of trying to come up with a shared definition of what constitutes “a real conversation,” Estella spends this time convincing Jojo to go to a party with her. A little later on, Jojo is at the library reading six books at a time. Estella shows up, and their playful banter also includes Estella begging Jojo to come party. This interaction is again interrupted briefly by Colt and his gang. Bear in mind that this is still well before Colt, Harland, Finn, and Jace cross the line into unforgivable territory. These two moments, which are several minutes long each, serve the same purpose and do not further the plot or character development in any new way. This same concept applies to Jojo visiting her father’s grave, as the first two visits happen seemingly back-to-back and only cover things the audience already knows.
Another issue with the film being so long is that there is a lot of waiting, which can be tedious. Colt and company do something shady/unpleasant but never quite arrest-worthy (aside from disturbing the peace). It is not until one hour and 15 minutes go by that the inciting incident occurs. It takes another 30 or 40 minutes for Jojo to take action. Unfortunately, the rookie filmmaker is unable to create a tense atmosphere that makes the waiting suspenseful rather than dull. The film has a strange fixation on “nationals” prep for a poet. Disregarding the fact that the last National Poetry Slam happened in 2018, how this character qualifies and what she’s going to do if she wins is never brought up. Yet, there are two scenes devoted to this lady verbalizing entire poems. While the actor is outstanding, cutting both out would change just about nothing. MINOR SPOILER ALERT: Also, the Sheriff never gets his comeuppance, which muddles a lot of the messaging at the end.
"…Judson proves he knows how to work with his cast..."
