Ana Lily Amirpour Researched ‘The Bad Batch’ By Visiting Skid Row
As The Bad Batch hits theaters, writer and director Ana Lily Amirpour is talking about what it took to create her dark vision of a cannibalistic, dystopian society for the film. Amirpour also reveals that, while The Bad Batch may seem to be making commentary on current events, the story was written several years ago and just happens to fit into a grander social setting.
Ana Lily Amirpour’s The Bad Batch Falls Into Place
Interviewing Amirpour on the premiere of The Bad Batch, Dread Central reports that the story of cannibalism and dystopia was written three years ago, long before the changes in the American political system. That’s worthy of pointing out, because a part of the film deals with a wall in Texas and that’s something Ana invented for her story without the knowledge of President Trump’s plans for his own version of a wall.
In The Bad Batch, Arlen (Suki Waterhouse) is thrown over the wall, and once on the other side, finds herself held captive by a society of cannibals. If she’s to survive, Arlen will have to learn how to fight as brutally as the barbaric savages populating her new world.
It’s certainly a dark view of society and where it’s headed, which Amirpour hopes will cause people to look at the direction our own society is headed.
“I am happy that it exists and maybe people can watch this film and maybe ask questions about how are you interacting with the system that we are in,” says The Bad Batch director.
Ana Lily Amirpour Shares How She Made Her Cannibalistic Dystopia So Believable
Creating a dystopian society of cannibals and making that world believable wasn’t as complicated as audiences might think. Ms. Amirpour tells The Hollywood Reporter that the kind of future seen in The Bad Batch isn’t as unlikely as people would like to think. In fact, Ana says much of our modern society is already living that kind of a dismal existence, with only select pockets of civilized, well-off societies thriving and isolated from the darker side of living.
The one difference might be the frequency with which cannibalism is seen in the real world versus the use of it in The Bad Batch. Still, Ana says the theme of cannibalism reflects the brutality of today’s society.
“This thing happens in art sometimes where there is almost this cumulative psyche to some existential pressures and feelings,” says Ms. Amirpour. “It’s this harsh man-eat-man world we’re in right now.”
Ana adds that her view of society and the distorted vision of it within The Bad Batch was influenced by her frequent visits to Skid Row in Los Angeles. She goes down to talk with the homeless there, whenever she has the time, because she likes to stay connected to the people.
Ms. Amirpour says she hopes The Bad Batch will open people’s eyes and force them to really think about the world we’re creating, before we’ve gone too far to fix things.
The Bad Batch, starring Suki Waterhouse, Jason Momoa, and Jayda Fink, is currently showing in theaters.
[Featured Image by Vice Films]
