Review: Bad Therapy

Release date: April 17, 2020
Running time: 97 minutes
Starring: Michaela Watkins, Rob Corddry, Alicia Silverstone 

In Bad Therapy, seemingly happy couple Susan (Silverstone) and Bob (Corddry) start marriage counseling to help each other communicate.  Normally this would be a great idea to connect with your spouse, however their counselor Judy (Watkins) has her own unconventional methods and may have ulterior motives for the therapy.  

Bad Therapy is an awkward, dark comedy.  This isn't a film that is going to make you laugh until you cry, rather it will make you cringe while still making you laugh.  The performances across the board are good, with Silverstone and Corddry providing some great but very different characters to headline the film.  I am especially happy to see Silverstone back in movies after what appears to be a long hiatus, since she was also in the wonderfully unsettling The Lodge earlier this year.  And Watkins is great as the unconventional therapist Judy; she has a dry, serious tone that makes for an entertaining and reserved antagonist.  There were also several interesting cameos in the film, notably Haley Joel Osment as Bob's coworker. 

However, where Bad Therapy misses is that the film's story just doesn't seem to have anything too memorable.  There are several funny moments and some ridiculous situations, but the measured, reserved pace of Judy's counseling seems to permeate the whole movie.  I can't really point to any specific part that I thought was exceptionally well done.  It was funny and I didn't mind the dark comedy, but it just wasn't funny enough.  And the ridiculous situations with the couple don't escalate like I would have expected for a modern comedy.  And the story itself does not explain itself, particularly the main conflict in it.  It seems to start out of nowhere and doesn't provide enough backstory to make you sympathize or even understand why this is happening.

Bad Therapy has three great leads in a dark comedy with funny moments, awkward humor, and ridiculous situations.

Rent it.