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Bad Hair

2020

Justin Simien

Elle Lorraine, Vanessa Williams, Lena Waithe, Blair Underwood ...

5.2

137

Comedy. Horror In 1989 an ambitious young woman gets a weave in order to succeed in the image-obsessed world of music television. However, her flourishing career may come at a great cost when she realizes that her new hair may have a mind of its own.

Streaming: October 23 on Hulu.

	Author	Review
United States	Amy Nicholson Variety	"Costume designer Ceci’s ensembles and Scott Kuzio’s production design are spot-on. Just as impressive is Simien’s steady handle on his serio-comic tone, at once sly, resonant, and horrific."	POS
United States	David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter	"At close to two hours, the movie feels severely stretched (...) 'Bad Hair' works best when it moves away from its fairly basic social commentary and goes for broke with batshit craziness"	NEU
United States	Monica Castillo The Wrap	"Once the action gets going and the narrative pieces fall into place, 'Bad Hair' is a creepy movie with thoughtful political twists and thrilling supernatural turns."	POS
United States	Gregory Ellwood The Playlist	"Simien wants to rightfully elevate Black women in a genre that he clearly loves (...) Yet, somehow, the end result still leaves you wanting."	NEU
United States	David Canfield Entertainment Weekly	"Social horror that veers toward the sharply comic and the politically prescient, (...) in trying to do so much more, Bad Hair ends up delivering a little less."	NEU
United Kingdom	Anthony Kaufman Screendaily	"The film is anchored by Elle Lorraine’s breakout performance (...) The film’s late ‘80s spot-on clothing fashions, set-designs, and music video recreations are amusing enough"	POS
United States	Eric Kohn IndieWire	"Equal parts vintage Brian De Palma thriller and race-centric corporate fashion satire (...) Simien’s ludicrous ’80s-spiced supernatural B-movie doesn’t know when to quit, much like the demonic weave at its center"	NEU
United States	Jeff Sneider Collider	"It’s hard to forget a movie about a killer weave, but I bet a lot of people, regardless of skin color, will appreciate the concerns and grievances that Simien addresses here"	POS
United States	Meagan Navarro Bloody Disgusting	"[It] makes for a mostly fun time, but one that needs a little refinement (...) As a whole, it seems Simien wasn’t quite sure how to make all of his ideas fit cohesively (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 5)"	NEU
United States	Odie Henderson rogerebert.com	"By playing coy with what the notion of good and bad hair means to its owners, 'Bad Hair' fails at the kind of Black experience-related relevance Jordan Peele wrung out of Get Out (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Johnny Oleksinski New York Post	"There are still writers and directors out there who like to lather in the horror genre’s natural insanity. Writer-director Justin Simien is one (...) It’s nice to see horror let its hair down again (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS

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