Bad Actor is a 2023 Mexican drama film written and directed by Jorge Cuchi, set in contemporary Mexico and exploring the topics of sexual misconduct and mob justice. The story follows two young Mexican actors – Sandra (Fiona Palomo) and Daniel (Alfonso Dosal). At the beginning, their careers are promising and their friendship strong. Two hours and nine minutes later, one of them lies in a puddle of tears, the other one in a puddle of blood.
The Truth
The movie starts with a still shot of a man and a woman sitting in a car. They discuss their attraction towards each other, leading the viewer to sympathize with this young, enamored couple – only to find out that the woman is the man’s mother-in-law. Before the viewer has time to readjust their point of view, Cuchi’s screenplay takes another turn when a sound engineer pops out of the back seat, revealing the whole situation to be a movie scene. These first few minutes, while not crucial for the plot, are very telling, as they set the narrative style for the rest of the movie. The truth in Bad Actor is somewhat fluid, pouring from one side to the other, refusing to take a solid form. While frustrating for our answer-craving minds, the movie’s indecisive and ominous style is one of its biggest strengths.
The U-turn
The following chapter resembles a happy ending sequence from a generic family-friendly movie. Sandra and Daniel chat cheerfully as they continue shooting the film, and their friendship strengthens. The ending of the movie, however, is far away, and far from happy. During a shoot of an intimate scene in a hotel room, the atmosphere suddenly changes. Couple of minutes later, Sandra accuses Daniel of rape. Daniel denies the accusations, and all the characters, as well as all the viewers, must pick a side. It would be easy for Cuchi to show us what exactly happened, and spoon-feed us the “correct” verdict, but luckily, he doesn’t. It isn’t until the last quarter of the film that the truth is finally revealed.
The Chase
Bad Actor is in many ways closer to a documentary than it is to a Hollywood blockbuster. The camera is hand-held, shaky and restlessly following the characters through the worst moments of their lives, not allowing them to hide from the viewer’s intrusive eye for even one minute. There is not one word uttered by an omniscient narrator to release them from the nightmare. Not one note of an extradiegetic soundtrack to break the spell and remind them that it’s just fiction. The characters, however, are not left alone in the tension – the viewer is right there with them.
Bad Actor is a riveting study of sexual misconduct that, if viewed with the right mindset, puts the viewer in a chokehold like only few other recent movies can. It avoids oversimplifying complex topics and, by creating an extraordinarily realistic tone, cuts truly deep.
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