Fantasia 2017--Bitch--Marianna Paralka (2017)

Writer/Director/Star Marianna Palka goes rabid in Bitch (2017)

As anyone who reads this blog knows, I am all in when it comes to women directors, and I'll try to see anything directed by women within reason.  Therefore, I was pretty damn thrilled to see the screening of Marianna Palka's Bitch at the 2017 Fantasia Film Festival, coming off some hot buzz from Sundance.  I've been sitting on my review for a couple of days, mostly because I'm a bit ambivalent about it.  I applaud Palka for making an original, frequently hilarious, sometimes touching film that shines a light on the dazzling performance skills of her ex beau, Jason Ritter.  If you are not familiar with Ritter, please see Embers, a fantastic film from last year's festival (also directed by a woman), in which he shows his more dramatic chops.  He's largely a comedic actor, who you've probably seen on either Drunk History or Another Period.  Jason Ritter rocks, and he rocks hard in Bitch.

Bill Hart (Jason Ritter) spectacularly loses his sh** in Bitch

So you are probably wondering, why the ambivalence?  I highly recommend you see Bitch, for its definitely worth your time and money, but I was a little disappointed by the tonal shift the film takes in the latter third of the narrative.  Surprisingly, IMDB's summary kind of spells it out: "The provocative tale of a woman (Marianna Palka) who snaps under crushing life pressures and assumes the psyche of a vicious dog. Her philandering, absentee husband (Jason Ritter) is forced to become reacquainted with his four children and sister-in-law (Jaime King) as they attempt to keep the family together during this bizarre crisis."

Expectations are set up here.  To some extent, the film is about a woman who, under the pressures of life placed on women, snaps and "assumes the psyche of a vicious dog"--ergo the bitch of the title.  This reaction is based on an actual case in Scotland, and in these troubled times, it's a wonder that this kind of situation doesn't happen more often.

I would snap too if these were my kids

The scenes where Palka, as Jane, "becomes a dog," angrily barking, attacking her family, smeared with her own feces, and baring her teeth, are pretty "horror movie" scary.  Many times a handheld camera assumes her dog POV and you are left rather shaken by her transformation.  Understandably, every one in the family freaks out, including her 4 out-of-control kids and her sh***y husband.  Should they commit her to an asylum or accept this change as the "new normal?"  Bill wants the latter, while Jane's family (her sister and parents) insist that she needs help he cannot give her.

Cautiously visiting Jane/Mom in the basement

Let me be clear here.  You would snap too with this home environment.  The kids are ungrateful brats that scream at each other and burden Jane with everything, and Bill is the most useless human being alive.  Seriously, Jason Ritter's Bill is a borderline cartoon villain, he's so beyond terrible.  He goes to his job everyday (at which he is terrible), cheats with a woman at work, and does not do anything to help Jane AT ALL.  He comically doesn't know how to drive their mini-van, doesn't know which schools the kids go too, and sometimes forgets their names (or that they are even in the car).  Bill's hysterical meltdowns as things go from bad to worse are comic genius, and because of Ritter's skills, you really love to hate him.

Bill is forced to become a better Dad (and husband)

Here's where the film goes awry for me.  Once Jane becomes a dog, and can no longer communicate with others, Bill has to "step it up"--and he does.  He becomes close with his kids, patient with his in-laws, loving to Jane (despite the fact that she still wants to bite him).  Bill goes from being relatively horrible, to a peachy gem, in the course of about 6 months.  Sure he hits bottom (loses his job, is forced to sell his house), and these circumstances are wildly unusual (my wife is a dog), but what starts out being a film about women, and culture, and the pains one must endure, becomes a film about the redemption of another straight white guy, who ultimately wins back the love of his wife by performing the minimum requirements for being a decent father--go figure.

Bitch is inventive, unique, with a soundtrack that runs counterpoint to much of the darkness that infuses the film.  In the first half of the film, the combination of darkness with humor is pitch perfect and truly special.  Once the film slips into sentimental family drama mode, though, I just felt a massive wave of disappointment.  I was not alone in the audience, as other members at Fantasia revealed during the Q & A that they truly wished for a different outcome.  Yet other people absolutely loved it, and thought it hit all the right notes. So, you decide.  See Bitch as soon as it's available, support women filmmakers, and see Jason Ritter's tour de force performance.  He's utterly spectacular here.