Critic Reviews

As she did in her gentler but equally original “Good Dick” in 2008, Ms. Palka carves a black and biting niche between a man and a woman, a space where chaos and psychological unease demand to be reckoned with.

Fearless writer-director-actress Marianna Palka has crafted an bold, dark domestic comedy with Bitch.

Even as the high-concept premise wears thin, Palka manages to generate an unexpected degree of sympathy for the floundering couple, and the wordless finale allows for a complete transformation that extends beyond Jill’s bizarre condition.

For a film that’s incredibly angry and blackly comic, it finally, and surprisingly, makes a case for compassion and understanding.

Bitch, truth be told, isn’t as daring and “out there” as its titles promises.

Bitch‘s third act is an improvement upon its second, mainly in that the movie allows itself to be weird again.

Initially offbeat, Bitch awkwardly pivots toward a more inspirational story of regret and reconciliation.

Acted and executed with brute conviction, if not much delicacy, by its writer-director-star, with an excellent foil in Jason Ritter’s boorish, baffled husband, the film feels overstretched in its latter half — with its central metaphor revealing only so many facets before the shock factor begins to pall.

While it’s refreshing to see a portrait of a woman’s unraveling that doesn’t romanticize mental illness, and that’s actually directed by a woman, it’s easy to wish Bitch probed a bit deeper into the protagonist’s pre-dog life.

It’s an interesting concept, but the characters are thin and nothing here feels insightful.