Bad Lands (2023) Review: One Desperate Heist Pulls Two Siblings Into a Deadly Crime Network

 

Bad Lands | 2023 | 2h 23m
Genre: Crime, Thriller | Country: Japan
Director: Masato Harada
Writers: Masato Harada, Hiroyuki Kurokawa
Cast: Sakura Andō, Ryosuke Yamada, Ryūdō Uzaki, and others
IMDb: 6.0
My Rating: 9/10

When a desperate robbery goes terribly wrong, two estranged siblings find themselves hunted by powerful criminals. Bad Lands delivers a gripping crime thriller where loyalty, survival, and family are tested against a ruthless underworld.

Warning:

Contains strong language, violence, murder, nudity, and disturbing themes.

Sometimes the money we think will solve our problems is exactly what creates an even bigger problem.

That is what I felt while watching Bad Lands (2023). The story begins with a simple motivation: Jo needs money to pay his debts, so he decides to rob the organization where he works. But a plan that already sounds dangerous becomes much more complicated when Neri, his sister, unexpectedly catches him in the act and gets dragged into everything.

Neri (Sakura Andô) works for a large scam organization that tricks people through telephone calls. She previously suffered violence at her former workplace and lost hearing in one ear because of it. She eventually returned to her father's side, even though her father had once sold both her and her mother to other people.

Her father now runs a large organization involved in telephone scams. The business is much bigger than Neri initially realizes, with powerful people protecting it, including members of the yakuza.

During one of their latest scams, the victim turns out to know that the call is fraudulent and has already worked with the police. Neri quickly senses that something is wrong and realizes that the police are following them. Because of her awareness, they manage to escape the trap.

But Neri does not know the full extent of the organization.

Her younger brother, Jo (Ryosuke Yamada), is also involved, although he has not yet earned enough trust from the boss to participate in the scams. What Neri does not know is that Jo has another job on the side: he works as a contract killer.

Jo is already in trouble after losing money through gambling, and things become worse when he fails to complete one of his missions. One of his friends is also killed during the operation.

Desperate for money, Jo comes up with what can only be called a reckless idea. He decides to rob the scam organization itself in order to pay his debts.

Then Neri catches him.

She is shocked by what she sees, but when Jo's life is threatened by their father, Neri makes a decision. She chooses to save her brother and kills their father.

At that moment, the two of them probably think the hardest part is over.

It is not.

The large amount of money they steal becomes the beginning of an even bigger problem.

Will Neri and Jo manage to escape with the money safely?

What I like about Bad Lands is that the story is surprisingly easy to follow despite everything happening inside it. The film is adapted from Hiroyuki Kurokawa's novel Keisou, and the plot is structured in a way that allows the different parts of the story to connect without becoming too confusing.

At the same time, the film still gives me enough uncertainty to keep watching. There are several developments that are not easy to predict, so even when I understand what is happening, I still want to know what will happen next.

That balance works well for me.

The production is also one of the film's strengths. The camera work, music, sound effects, lighting, and visual details are all handled very well. The makeup and overall appearance of each character also suit their personalities and positions in the story.

I especially appreciate how all these elements come together. Bad Lands has a fairly long running time, but I did not feel that the length became a major problem because there was enough happening to keep the story moving.

The acting is another reason I enjoyed the film.

The performances feel natural and flow well from one scene to another. The chemistry between the characters also works nicely, especially between the main characters. The supporting cast is equally convincing, and everyone seems to understand what their role needs to contribute to the story.

Sakura Andô's performance as Neri is particularly convincing to me because the character has to carry several different sides of herself. She is involved in a criminal organization, but she is also someone who has already experienced violence and betrayal within her own family. Her relationship with Jo gives another layer to the character because she is willing to protect her brother even after discovering what he has been doing.

I also enjoy the fact that Bad Lands does not rely only on its crime plot. There are action sequences that create an adrenaline rush, especially for viewers who enjoy yakuza-related stories or crime thrillers.

One of the scenes that stayed with me involves Mandala, a former yakuza member, teaching Jo about shooting distance. At almost the same time, Neri finds herself in another situation where that lesson is unexpectedly visualized. She throws spiritus at her opponent, causing the person to catch fire.

I really like the way these two scenes are connected.

One character is learning a theory in one place, while another character is demonstrating something similar in a completely different situation. The connection between them makes the scenes feel almost like two pieces of the same idea, even though the characters are not together.

It is a small storytelling choice, but it makes the sequence memorable to me.

The dialogue, “Everything has a risk. It's do or die,” also fits the story very well.

Almost every important decision in Bad Lands carries a risk. Jo risks everything because of his debt. Neri risks her life to protect her brother. The money they steal promises to solve one problem, but creates another.

That is probably what makes the story enjoyable. Nobody in this world gets an easy choice.

What also makes Neri interesting to me is that her choices are not always about money or survival alone. Her relationship with her family influences many of her decisions. She has already experienced betrayal from the people who should have protected her, yet she still chooses to protect Jo.

There is something complicated about that kind of loyalty.

Sometimes, family can be the reason we are hurt the most, but it can also be the reason we are willing to take the greatest risks.

I think that is one of the more human parts of Bad Lands. The characters live in a world where violence, crime, and money are part of their everyday lives, yet their decisions are still strongly influenced by personal relationships.

The ending is slightly sad, but I would still describe it as a kind of happy ending for the main characters. It is not the kind of conclusion where everything suddenly becomes perfect, but there is still something emotionally satisfying about where the story leaves them.

Overall, Bad Lands (2023) is a film I would recommend, especially for viewers who enjoy crime thrillers, yakuza-related stories, and action films with a strong family element. The story is systematic, the suspense works well, the performances are convincing, and the visual presentation makes the long running time easier to enjoy.

For me, the film's most interesting idea is that every decision comes with a consequence, even when the decision seems like the only way out.

Jo steals money because he wants to escape his debt. Neri kills her own father because she wants to save her brother. Both decisions solve an immediate problem, but both also lead them into something they did not expect.

Maybe that is how many decisions work in real life too. We often focus on what a choice can solve right now without thinking enough about what it might create later.

So perhaps the question worth taking away from Bad Lands is not simply whether we would take the same risks as Neri and Jo, but something closer to home: when we choose the fastest way out of a difficult situation, have we also thought about what kind of problem that choice might create tomorrow?

(Aluna Uwie)

Previously published on Alunauwie.com.

"This article was originally written in Indonesian and has been adapted into English for international readers."