Jennifer Connelly

2023 - 1 - 21

Post cover — Image courtesy of "IndieWire"

Jennifer Connelly Doesn't Know About the 'Nepo Baby' Debate (IndieWire)

Sundance: And she's not wrong, as the star tells IndieWire why she wanted to work with Alice Englert on her remarkable feature debut.

And I worked with Alice because I read her script and I thought her script was really interesting. I love that so much of it is really funny and the characters kind of get that they’re ridiculous and they’re sort of taking the piss out of themselves. I mean, I was really excited to work on it. I think that they made a great film, I really do. I was really excited to make it. I think that the tone of the movie is so interesting and it’s so its own thing and her own thing. I thought it was quite brave of Alice, but let her to sort of write a project about characters who behave in that way. She’s so smart and I think she’s really bold in her writing and the choices. I thought it was wonderfully written and I thought it was funny. And with Lucy, I mean, she, as the title says, behaves really badly. It wasn’t like we had any time to spend outside of our fast and furious filming schedule, but I really admired her and adore her and instantly felt very, I don’t know how to say it, we just sort of dove right in to the material and to working together. I think she wrote really beautiful scenes that I think were very intimate and specific.

"Bad Behaviour" Review: Jennifer Connelly is Magnificent in Alice ... (The Playlist)

Actor-turned-filmmaker Alice Englert's “Bad Behaviour” is a dirty bomb of a movie, and it almost seems intentionally devised to keep the viewer off-balance.

But in an industry where even the independent offerings are increasingly veering into safe and predictable “content,” it’s genuinely thrilling to watch a filmmaker with a specific voice and oddball style taking genuine risks, and the way she successfully navigates these tonal transitions, how she cuts the cynicism with sincerity and vice versa – well, it’s kind of miracle. The retreat is so well-established and specifically populated that it’s a genuine shock when a big event, heading into the third act, spins the movie into altogether unfamiliar territory; I wouldn’t dream of giving it away, but it left this viewer’s mouth agape, stunned not by just what happens, but that first-time feature filmmaker Englert has the stones to shake the snow globe so drastically. “Well, sometimes I’m just a cunt,” she shrugs, but it’s not as simple as that, and there is something beyond mere moodiness in her withering contempt for the model/influencer (Dasha Nekrasova) who mostly seems to have attended the retreat for the ‘gram opportunities. But it doesn’t really matter, because Dylan is such a fascinating character, a danger-seeking tough broad who keeps her regrets and sensitivity safely locked away, only to find that lock isn’t quite as hard to pick as she thought. The guru, perhaps not coincidentally, is named Elon – Elon Bello, to be precise, and he’s played with a truly inspired hand by Ben Whishaw as the kind of moody “engima” whom you somehow know everything about, right off the bat. Actor-turned-filmmaker Alice Englert’s “Bad Behaviour” is a dirty bomb of a movie, and it almost seems intentionally devised to keep the viewer off-balance.

'Bad Behaviour' Review: Jennifer Connelly & Ben Whishaw Star in ... (Hollywood Reporter)

Set at a spiritual retreat, Alice Englert's 'Bad Behaviour' stars Jennifer Connelly and Ben Whishaw in an accomplished first feature.

(Campion has a very brief cameo as a doctor treating Dylan’s bruises.) Her plot and Lucy’s begin to merge late in the story, with an exercise in which Elon asks the group to role-play as mothers and babies. [Dangerous Liaisons](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/dangerous-liaisons-starz-1235255257/) and notably in the series Top of the Lake: China Girl, directed by her mother, [Jane Campion](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/jane-campion/). The problem with this section isn’t the disjunction or shift in tone, but the sheer talkiness of the scenes between Lucy and Dylan. At that stage the film promises to go over the top in a delightfully off-kilter way, only to have Dylan, with personal problems of her own, fly to see Lucy in Oregon instead. The satirical scenes at the retreat are the most bracing, with Connelly and Whishaw’s modulated performances reflecting the film’s balance between comedy and drama. [Jennifer Connelly](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/jennifer-connelly/)) phones her daughter to say she’ll be off the grid, and arrives at her wooded destination. At his first group meeting, most people in the room are open-eyed and quizzical, while Lucy’s eyes are closed. (The entire film was made in New Zealand.) Dylan’s scenes provide broader comic relief, as she practices tumbling down the stairs, lunges at her maybe-boyfriend with a lance, and puts ice packs on her muscles in her hotel room at night. In her first feature as writer and director, [Alice Englert](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/alice-englert/) expertly finds the line between satire and sincerity, mocking the slipperiness of the spiritual-enlightenment industry while acknowledging the serious intentions of the people — in this case very well-heeled customers — who think it’s at least worth a try. Hypnosis.” That skepticism is enhanced by the merch for sale in the corner of the room where the spiritual leader, Elon ( [Ben Whishaw](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/ben-whishaw/)), runs his sessions. She is, of course, better known as an actress, most recently in Starz’s

'Bad Behaviour' Review: Jennifer Connelly Goes Wild in Alice ... (IMDb)

Lucy is looking for enlightenment. Dylan wants to prove her strength. And in “Bad Behaviour,” both mother and daughter will find their way there.

Dumb labels be damned: She’s the real deal, and “Bad Behaviour” is proof positive of that. She’s an actress, writer, singer, and songwriter, and with “Bad Behaviour,” she ascends to feature filmmaker status (she’s got two short films under her belt already). Perhaps it’s the talent in her genes, perhaps it’s her unique life experience, perhaps some combo of that and more, but Englert is already a formidable, fully formed filmmaker.

'Bad Behaviour': Sundance Review (Screen International)

Alice Englert directs herself and Jennifer Connelly in this US/New Zealand-set story of mother-daughter bonding.

Through it all, Connelly and Englert completely sell their conflicted yearning for one another’s love but because this section is a late arrival, the revelations have to come thick and fast.. Connelly plays Lucy, a former child star who has been left jaded by life’s knocks and who is now heading to a US New Age retreat, only informing her daughter Dylan (Englert) while she’s already en route. As most New Age gurus would tell you, the road to enlightenment is hard work and far from straightforward.

'Bad Behaviour' Review: Alice Englert's Directorial Debut Comes In ... (TheWrap)

Sundance 2023: Englert and Jennifer Connelly play daughter and mother in a quirky film with some moments that land but too many that do not.

But unlike similar dramedies like “The Skeleton Twins” or “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” “Bad Behaviour” never sticks the landing. “Bad Behaviour” has all the trappings of a Sundance staple: It’s off-beat and low-key despite its exciting cast; both too cool for school and bolstered by filmmaking legends. Dylan’s dalliance with her coworker is mainly comprised of sweet montages and soft lighting; it’s hardly presented as a “bad romance,” even if it doesn’t end well. According to the press notes, Lucy is “easily annoyed” by her fellow retreat members and “destructively obsessed” with Beverly, and Dylan is in a “bad romance.” These tensions, if present at all, are not nearly so exaggerated in the film. Connelly is a master of the tearful thousand-yard stare. Elon is named Elon, and the film features two Teslas, but there’s no “Glass Onion”–esque critique at work here. (Shout out to hair and makeup designer Stef Knight.) Nearly every frame of the film radiates a lo-fi indie softness. A stumbling first feature, “Bad Behaviour” hints at promising pathos and vision without delivering anything truly substantial. The film opens with Lucy (Jennifer Connelly), who is headed for an Oregon retreat led by Elon Bello (Ben Whishaw), a soft-spoken yet judgmental sage. Though “Bad Behaviour” is playfully meta, it’s not needlessly self-referential. “Bad Behaviour” is a family affair in more ways than one. The “Power of the Dog” auteur even makes a cameo in the film.

Sundance Review: 'Bad Behaviour' (Punch Drunk Critics)

Sundance Review: 'Bad Behaviour'. Jennifer Connelly Is A Whirlwind Of Bad Choices In Alice Englert's Darkly Comedic, Tonally Uneven Directorial Debut. By.

While her best work is in the hopefully not-too-distant future, Englert’s feature debut is a modest success and shouldn’t be overlooked. Lucy is closed off and unable to trust others, but most of all she doesn’t trust her ability as a mother. Ultimately, Englert is hoping to portray real people with real problems, and large chunks of the film work against that. Lucy and the other attendees are undeniably fake in their own ways, but this portion of Bad Behaviour shouldn’t feel as phony as it does. But here, it’s impossible not to note that the actress-turned-filmmaker is the daughter of Jane Campion. Jennifer Connelly stars as Lucy, a former child actress who is no longer in the limelight and not dealing with it very well.

Jennifer Connelly