Have you ever wanted to see Bella Thorne as a junkie thief masquerading as a nun on the run from thugs? I love Bella as well as road trip cinema quite a bit more than most, so it seemed like I would be the target audience for this action comedy. However, the execution is almost entirely botched. A premise bursting with possibilities is sadly one big flatline.
Set in Corpus Christi, Texas, Habit follows Mads (Bella Thorne) as she becomes swept up retrieving twenty grand for a bad group of people. On her journey are twisted visuals, spotty acting, sexual debauchery, lesbian Jesus, and repetitive character-building exercises—not exactly one’s typical fun time at the movies.
There is certainly style in Habit, it is just that we have seen all of this recycled and rehashed countless times. Like many have said, Quentin Tarantino called, and he wants his aesthetic back. Dialogue like “the light is one of my favorite things about living in Southern California” really does not do the film any favors either. I get what they were going for at certain intervals, but there is simply no payoff. I also have to add that this movie has one of the most annoying villains of all time in the form of grating baddie Queenie (Josie Ho).
Habit does have one crowning achievement—it features possibly the most epic cinematic depiction of “Eyes Without a Face” I have seen yet. It comes fast and furious in a crowd-pleasing moment of fireworks and gore. The success of this scene alone made me wish that Habit had taken more time to embrace this campy over-the-top mindset. It wastes the full movie going partially in on its wild premise instead of playing a full hand.
Habit asks the audience to join their convent when it comes to limited release theaters and VOD/digital on Friday, August 20th.
