‘Bad Actor’: Tallinn Review

Dir/scr: Jorge Cuchi. Mexico. 2023. 129mins

Young Mexican actors Sandra (Fiona Palomo) and Daniel (Alfonso Dosal) share a warm friendship both on and off the set of their latest film, a thriller that casts them as illicit lovers. But when, a boundary is crossed during the shooting of an intimate scene, trust is shattered and a devastating chain of events is set in motion. The second feature from Jorge Cuchi. Bad Actor is an ever-tightening chokehold of a film, both an uncomfortable exploration of consent and sexual misconduct and an indictment of mob justice in the face of social media.

An ever-tightening chokehold of a film

Cuchi’s debut picture, 50 Or Two Whales Meet On A Beach, also screened at Tallinn in 2020, where it won a youth prize, following a premiere in Venice’s Critics Week. With its propulsive thriller pacing and hot-button topicality, Bad Actor is not an easy watch but it should be a conversation starter at further festivals. Interest from arthouse distributors and bespoke streamers is not out of the question, although a final act swerve into sensationalism may be a turn-off for some.

The picture opens in the interior of a car. Sandra and Daniel discuss their affair, with Sandra revealing that every time her husband goes away on business she secretly prays that he will die. But what seems to be a bombshell revelation is then shown to be a scene from the film that they are shooting together, and the tension of the moment is punctured when the sound woman, concealed in the back seat, complains that she is desperate for the toilet. It’s a bait-and-switch technique that Cuchi uses on several occasions throughout the film, causing us to shift our perspectives and even question our assumptions.

Cuchi takes an unvarnished, documentary-style approach, with an agile hand-held camera used to impressive effect, tuning into the tensions and the shifts in emotional temperature in the unremarkable hotel room where the drama unfolds. It’s here that Sandra and Daniel are filming a sex scene; after asking for her consent and mistaking her lack of a response to be approval, Daniel betrays his co-star’s trust. The initial shock paralyses Sandra. Her facial expression reveals that something is wrong, but it’s not until a few minutes later, accompanied by the female assistant director Regina (Karla Coronado) and the costume designer, Ximena (Patricia Soto), that Sandra breaks down and reveals what has happened. Daniel, when confronted by the film’s director, denies her accusations.

Conflicting motivations within the supporting characters add to the picture’s uneasy atmosphere – the director and producer go through the motions of support, but are keen to stress that Sandra need not take the nuclear option and press charges against Daniel. Ximena, meanwhile, feels that the legal route to bring Daniel to justice will be too lenient and her actions trigger the film’s explosive and shocking climax. Here, the film walks into profoundly uncomfortable territory, using an indefensible and barbaric act to force us to find empathy for Daniel. 

Indeed, Bad Actor is so far from an audience’s comfort zone, that it might as well be from a different planet. It’s fortunate, then, that it is grounded by an exceptionally high quality of performance, in particular from the remarkable Palomo.