SXSW 2023 Review: “Bloody Hell” – A Poor Take on an Intriguing Story!

Being a sixteen year old girl is hard enough but when Lindy (Maddie Ziegler) is diagnosed with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, a reproductive condition where a woman is born without a uterus or developed vaginal canal, she feels like her life is turned upside down. Bloody Hell portrays writer and directors Molly McGlynn’s semi-autobiographical struggle through womanhood and identity, learning that she will never be able to conceive a child or have sex in a “normal” way.

The most unfortunate part of Bloody Hell is it’s weaker execution of a story that is certainly worth telling. This is the first film that had ever examined MRKH, a triumph in itself, but unfortunately an important story does not necessarily mean it is a good film. The pacing and structure of the script feels all over the place, going event by event followed by resolution after resolution in semi-chronological order. It feels like scriptwriting 101 but with a struggle to maintain its audiences attention when the dialogue feels clunky and there are a lot of possibly ending scenes that then continue to another scene. As a result, the film felt so much longer than its runtime of 105 minutes.

The scope of the story and theme of never having to feel the need to “fix yourself” for others is admirable. Once Lindy is diagnosed with MRKH she begins to spiral, thinking of her future regarding children and her ability to have sex as a teenager. The idea that Lindy wasn’t actually ever hindered from going about her life as normal and the people around her and society at large caused her to second guess her motivations and desires was intriguing.

What was a shame was that Bloody Hell didn’t do a great job of hanging onto this message and instead having Lindy not realize it until close to the end. Instead the rest of the film was filled with underdeveloped characters who were never given the opportunity to be written in a way that furthered the theme of acceptance of yourself. For some odd reason every character other than Ziegler seemed to have flaws that they had to realize rather than Lindy herself (using a guy for sex at one point and never realizing how she hurt people too).

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Bloody Hell was a disappointing take on an intriguing story. Other than for women, it is a very ostracizing film which should not be the case in cinema. Just because a filmmaking deals with a feminine issue doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be enjoyed or strong enough to attract other demographics.

‘Bloody Hell’ Rating – 4/5

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