Becky – An Imbalance of Bleak and Camp

It’s always exciting to see actors in roles that we aren’t truly familiar with them for. Becky, which was slated to be part of the midnight program at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, seemed to promise outrageous campiness that hadn’t been seen before – especially when it concerned one of its leads, Kevin James, primarily known for his involvement with Happy Madison films. While there’s certainly some dedicated performances here and an interesting atmosphere, it just doesn’t lean into it’s silliness enough – expecting audiences to take it seriously to an unrealistic extent.

There is a decent amount of good to be had with Becky that is unfortunately overshadowed by its flaws. First off, there’s definitely an atmosphere here that’s quite palpable and unparalleled. The outrageous nature of the story is hard to nail tonally, but the generally dirty feeling that surrounds it is quite impressive – and it’s always admirable to see a vision fully realized in that way. After all, this was a large reason for the buzz surrounding it while it could be easily said that the performances are pretty impressive. Wilson is astronomically committed as the titular Becky, in a way that truly captures the audience’s eye. She is a scream queen at her finest – she certainly goes a little too crazy, but it’s always intriguing to watch her go full method here. Meanwhile, just as many have surely hoped, James is pretty great here as Dominick. He’s impressively menacing for someone who’s never ventured into this type of role – and it’s certainly something that is worth looking out for in the future.

This happens unfortunately often in camp horror movies of this type, and Becky is no question – because it spends most of its runtime drowning in the trappings of its niche. The film’s distracting tonal imbalance makes it challenging for viewers to truly immerse themselves into the story. This is mainly due to its attempt of tackling a level of bleakness that takes no advantage or acknowledgement of its silliness. This choice complicates any sort of engagement with its comedic aspects as the film seemingly puts itself on a pedestal. The way its tone is addressed feels like it doesn’t deserve to go to the gory lengths it does especially when the film doesn’t even bother to handle any of it in a way that’s even slightly fun to watch.

At the end of the day, while watching Becky, it clear that its directors and screenwriters have a vision that’s admirable. It’s simply hard for one to not wish that this vision was handled and assembled in a more graceful way. The pieces at play here that work do work quite well, tied together by a somewhat impressive atmosphere – but one that feels like it’s not fully aware of how far from intelligent it is.

still courtesy of Quiver Distribution and Redbox Entertainment

Follow me on twitter @daniel_azbel and on letterboxd @danthemovieman.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook. Also subscribe to our YouTube channel.

dannythemovieman