Bad Hair
Ratings: 2/5
Director: Justin Simien
Producers: Justin Simien, Julia Lebedev, Angel Lopez, Eddie Vaisman
Writer: Justin Simien
Genre: Thriller, Horror
Release Date: October 16, 2020
Streaming Platform: Hulu
Star Cast: Elle Lorraine, Jay Pharoah, Lena Waithe, Kelly Rowland, Laverne Cox, Chanté Adams, James Van Der Beek, Usher Raymond IV, Blair Underwood, Vanessa Williams
Plot:
The story begins in the late ’80s. Wheels have turned for a young Anna (Elle Lorraine), who is a LA Professional and takes a job at a music TV station meant for black audiences called Culture. In a moment of upheaval, the television station makes changes in the top leadership and that is when Anna’s direct boss, Edna (Judith Scott) is replaced by Zora (Vanessa Williams) as the white higher-ups.
Post that Zora offers Anna a long-overdue promotion. However, she gives her a quizzical look and asks, “Anna, who does your hair?” and extends the sarcastic comment stating that “If you went to an interview at any other building in town, you wouldn’t get past reception.” Cruel but that had to be said since this comment opens the devil’s doorway that Anna is about to enter.
Zora sends Anna to Virgie’s Salon, where a seemingly possessed stylist played by Laverne Cox gets at the job of doing Anna’s hair. In the process, Anna’s hair is harshly braided and tugged, and she bleeds as though she’s on an operating table. This is the hair change that is going to change Anna’s life forever. Nothing from that moment could be undone. And Anna is completely innocent about what she is being put up against.
There is a stormy change awaiting back at the Culture. In the spur of the moment, Anna is all that is talked about at work and suddenly everybody is tripping over themselves to be nearer to her.
Anna’s life seems to be changing as her former paramour Julius (Jay Pharoah) looks her way again. And professionally she starts to climb the ladder where she finds herself up for the associate producer and on-air talent position she is long dreamed of. Little did she know that her improved reputation is a result of a deal with the devil.
In a deadly turn of events, her shiny new hair starts to snake out and kills helpless victims. And from there on the story unravels showing how the devil takes charge of Anna’s life and causes her immense mental agony that she is barely able to withstand.
Review:
The horror story usually revolves around anything featuring ghosts, vampires, or dolls but the depiction in the movie Bad Hair is centered around the word ‘weave’. To be very precise – the antagonist is entirely brand-new: a Black woman’s weave. Yes, that is baffling. Weaves do not frequently play a role in homicides but that was true only until today.
To get a better idea and before you search ‘weave’ to see if there is an alternate definition you were heretofore not aware of, know that it indeed means hair sewn onto a woman’s existing mop. The style is often associated with black women, who can achieve longer locks with it.
That weave costs Anna her everything. That weave that turns out to be a bloodthirsty killer, hell-bent on wrecking her life and leading her to turn to the folktales of the enslaved for guidance. That weave with dark powers takes part in multiple murders preceded by little tension or suspense. Even so much exaggeration couldn’t change the overall feel of the movie which is completely flat. Neither the story nor the direction and certainly not the acting could change the flat curve. Maybe if the actors had more verve, the direction had more vision, and the script had something novel to say, this sort of premise could have worked.
Plus, the touch on the point about the unjust treatment done towards Black people at work is brought in a very clumsy manner. Anna’s struggles back in the ’80s at her white-owned company feel very familiar still in 2020. Both - the script and direction pathologize Black women’s relationship with their hair, falling on tired tropes that frame wanting to get a relaxer or weave as a reflection of Black women striving for white acceptance and power. This whole idea is chewed hard in many other cinemas which were able to bring out the idea in a much better and creative way.
However, on a lighter side, it is worth pointing out that the weaves are supposed to be the bad guys, not the women who wear them – and that is the sign the movie gives out.
Hair politics is a rare event to be put up on the big screen. And combined with that blackness which is a complicated issue. The movie Bad Hair attempts to touch on all these complexities, from classism to colourism and more, all in its campy way.
The film's tonal jumble and uneven execution are impossible to ignore. And given that fact, it is most definitely not going to linger in your mind or leave any lasting impression. However, you can give it a try at your own risk!
Trivia:
- The world premiere of Bad Hair was held at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2020.
