On paper Habit feels like a lot of fun, with hints of Pulp Fiction, Under the SIlver Lake and Sister Act all merging together. A star vehicle for Bella Thorne (familiar to those who’ve seen The Babysitter or are aware of some mild internet controversies she’s been embroiled in) we follow Mads (Thorne) who poses as a nun when she becomes embroiled with dodgy drug deals and grisly gangsters.
Thorne is the best thing on screen but it feels she is trapped as a performer in a certain wheelhouse. Director and writer Janell Shirtcliff may well be aware of this and sending it up, but often the pastiche doesn’t successfully translate here. It doesn’t help that much of the ensemble are a roster of caricatures, some that border on the offensive. Well-played by the cast, these characters have all the depth of a small puddle. Habit is nothing if not immediately dated the instant it begins. This would have been dated in the 90s as a post-Pulp Fiction guns, drugs and gangsters drama. And in 2021… well times may be changing but a relic like this is one that has stayed so very much in the past that it's almost comedic. Except Habit takes itself far too seriously to be aware of how archaic it all is.
‘LA-is-hell’ films are a tricky needle to thread. Even the very successful examples of these type of films often threaten to fall down thanks to an air of smugness that surrounds them. LA (as it is represented here) often comes across like a bright, colourful carnival of a place, and for viewers who aren’t very familiar with it, the experience of watching films about the nuances of life can feel both ostracising and frustrating. Because, let’s be honest, there are worse places to live than Los Angeles, a fact that lets Habit down time-and-time again.
Committed turns and some technical prowess can’t save this film from drowning in a cliche-laden screenplay. Even Bella Thorne at her most compelling isn’t enough to lift Habit up. Laughs are few and far between, there’s no real sense of threat and it all feels stretched and warped to the point where it’s just not very interesting.
Thorne is the best thing on screen but it feels she is trapped as a performer in a certain wheelhouse. Director and writer Janell Shirtcliff may well be aware of this and sending it up, but often the pastiche doesn’t successfully translate here. It doesn’t help that much of the ensemble are a roster of caricatures, some that border on the offensive. Well-played by the cast, these characters have all the depth of a small puddle. Habit is nothing if not immediately dated the instant it begins. This would have been dated in the 90s as a post-Pulp Fiction guns, drugs and gangsters drama. And in 2021… well times may be changing but a relic like this is one that has stayed so very much in the past that it's almost comedic. Except Habit takes itself far too seriously to be aware of how archaic it all is.
‘LA-is-hell’ films are a tricky needle to thread. Even the very successful examples of these type of films often threaten to fall down thanks to an air of smugness that surrounds them. LA (as it is represented here) often comes across like a bright, colourful carnival of a place, and for viewers who aren’t very familiar with it, the experience of watching films about the nuances of life can feel both ostracising and frustrating. Because, let’s be honest, there are worse places to live than Los Angeles, a fact that lets Habit down time-and-time again.
Committed turns and some technical prowess can’t save this film from drowning in a cliche-laden screenplay. Even Bella Thorne at her most compelling isn’t enough to lift Habit up. Laughs are few and far between, there’s no real sense of threat and it all feels stretched and warped to the point where it’s just not very interesting.