Bad Behaviour 2023

Jennifer Connelly stars as Lucy, a former child actress seeking enlightenment at a retreat led by spiritual leader Elon (Ben Whishaw, Lilting NZIFF 2014). Before turning her phone off for the duration of the retreat, Lucy calls her stunt performer daughter, Dylan (played by the film’s writer and director, Alice Englert) who is in New Zealand working on set. The two have a fraught, codependent relationship, just as Lucy did with her own mother, only strained further when Lucy meets model, DJ and fellow retreat attendee Beverly (Dasha Nekrasova, The Scary of Sixty-First NZIFF 2021) who epitomises all the vanity and myopia Lucy couldn’t tolerate in her own mother, daughter and self.

Having premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2023, Bad Behaviour is the feature debut of Alice Englert. The film is stacked with New Zealanders in supporting roles; Ana Scotney (Millie Lies Low 2021), Marlon Williams (The Rehearsal NZIFF 2016), Beulah Koale (Dual NZIFF 2021), Xana Tang (Munkie NZIFF 2021), Robbie Magasiva, and Tom Sainsbury (Loop Track NZIFF 2023). A darkly comic look at matrilineal dysfunction, Bad Behaviour paints a fascinating, whimsical picture of two complex women.

“Connelly and Whishaw sharply define their complicated characters, Bad Behaviour is…engaging, droll and shrewdly observed”. — Caryn James, Hollywood Reporter

“Funny, flinty, and intriguing … Connelly and Englert, already so good apart, do even better work when they’re finally sharing the screen. Englert’s cracking wit and ability to find humor and heart in all sorts of situations translate to her own performance, which is sneakily vulnerable.” — Kate Erbland, IndieWire