Spoilers are ordering room service.

Hotels have this liminal ability to produce an uneasy feeling when they are empty. Or perhaps that’s just me recalling all the scary films that take place in hotels. Either way, as much of an uphill climb this film had to do, it ended up carving its own path. The scariest films are the ones in which the people staying there bring in their baggage. Don’t forget to ask for the password to the wifi at the reception desk.

(Credit: SHUDDER)

Bad Things (2023) was written and directed by Stewart Thorndike. Ruthie (Gayle Rankin) has inherited the family business from her grandmother, a closed hotel that brings back painful memories of her estranged mother. Convinced by her friends, she has reluctantly agreed to spend the weekend along with her girlfriend Cal (Hari Nef) and their friend Maddie (Rad Pereira). Unfortunately, Maddie has brought a controversial plus one: Fran (Annabelle Dexter-Jones) who has a troubled past with Ruthie. This puts a dent in Ruthie’s and Cal’s relationship as it’s just healing from a past incident. To make things go from bad to worse, the hotel might be closed – but not entirely empty.

The best thing that a horror film can do is give their characters some agency in the horror they experience. Each of the cast brings with them painful baggage that will influence how they will react when one of them starts seeing things. Ruthie might be our protagonist, but she’s also a very flawed person. The more flawed, the easier it seems to be for her to witness things that seem to happen a little too conveniently timed. After Cal has suggested to revive the hotel and convinced Ruthie to watch some videos on the business of hospitality, is it just a coincidence that Ruthie sees the same woman in red (Molly Ringwald) appearing out of the blue?

The performances and the story telling sell it for me. It’s biggest uphill battle may be the setting, just because it might invite comparisons to classic, highly-regarded films. It doesn’t try to be that, nor does it ever mimic any of the cinematography. Seeing it without any expectations works better than trying to consider it a tribute to another film. It also does queer relationships are normal relationships, complicated and messy but unlike the cameo-like characterizations in other films, it’s very much present throughout its run.

Highly recommended for fans of paranoid horror. The execution is decent enough and the queer characters are all three dimensional. Each of the main cast of characters have their own biases and agency to bring to the table and all that will go into the mix when everyone starts to distrust each other. Very much worth a watch.

That will do for now.