Synopsis
In a small suburb on the outskirts of Rome, the cheerful heat of summer camouflages a stifling atmosphere of alienation. From a distance, the families seem normal, but it’s an illusion: in the houses, courtyards and gardens, silence shrouds the subtle sadism of the fathers, the passivity of the mothers and the guilty indifference of adults. But it’s the desperation and repressed rage of the children that will explode and cut through this grotesque façade, with devastating consequences for the entire community.
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Cast
- Elio GermanoBruno Placido
- Tommaso Di ColaDennis Placido
- Giulietta RebeggianiAlessia Placido
- Gabriel MontesiAmelio Guerrini
- Justin Alexander KorovkinGeremia Guerrini
- Barbara ChichiarelliDalila Placido
- Lino MusellaProfessor Bernardini
- Ileana D'AmbraVilma Tommasi
- Max MalatestaPietro Rosa
- Aldo OttobrinoPadre di Ada
Recommandations
- 80
The Guardian
It is a superbly shot, viscerally acted ensemble drama. - 80
The Observer (UK)
Parental indifference is not attuned to the looming tragedy in this horribly compelling fable. - 80
Screen Daily
Provocative Italian feature Bad Tales is one of those films that aren’t afraid to confront you with the grimmest aspects of the human condition, but yet leave you feeling strangely exalted by the sheer cinematic invention involved. - 75
Slant Magazine
Narration, as the film reminds us, isn’t only a diversion but a form of authority, of power, and when authority is least conspicuous, it’s often at its most insidious. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Surprising, disconcerting and droll, this Italo-Swiss co-prod packs the grotesquerie of an Ulrich Seidl film minus the sex, plus vivid acting. Its weakest link is on the narrative level. - 67
The Film Stage
Even if the impact Bad Tales creates ultimately feels cheap, there’s no denying the force and expert construction of it. - 50
Los Angeles Times
As a curdled storybook, Bad Tales is highly watchable. The problem is that the brothers aren’t telling stories fueled by powerful characters; they’re staging awkward cruelties as if for a gallery show. - 40
The New York Times
The story is both overwrought and underdeveloped, with potentially important plot details insufficiently explained or left out altogether.
