Bad Day for the Cut (2017) : 3/5 STARS
Directed by Chris Baugh’s Bad Day for the Cut (2017) is a thriller film starring an almost complete cast form Ireland and Northern Ireland. Set in rural Belfast the film is about a Northern Irish farmer called Donal who begins his quest to get revenge on the people who he witnessed, driving away after murdering his mother. With a few unexpected twists this film is sure to fulfil anyone looking to watch a great, and slightly different action movie. The director Chris Baugh has previously directed several short films such as The Captors (2016) and most recently Boys from County Hell (2020). For this movie achieving a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, most of the reviews from critics say the movie has ‘its own distinctive flavour’, commending the protagonist Donal and the films entertainment value with one critic stating “it is the naivety of O’Neill’s Donal and his blustering determination to do the right thing that makes him such an engaging character and allows the film to retain its grip even as aspects of the plotting remain resolutely conventional.” (Hunter, Screen Daily)
Nigel O’Neill stars as the mundane farmer Donal, known for his previous roles in the TV shows Vikings (2015), Game of Thrones (2015) and Derry Girls (2019). Polish actor Józef Pawlowski also stars in multiple Polish films such as Klincz (2016) and Volta (2017) but I recognised him from his role in action movie Jack Strong (2014). Throughout the film we see the relationships created and the character development with both the protagonist and antagonist, which was really interesting to watch unravel as we see similarities to both. Another film were the protagonist male doesn’t have to have a woman tagging along as the unnecessary ‘damsel in distress’.
Comparing this to other thrillers in the same genre, it lacks the faster moving car chases and explosions that we usually see. Most of the time an action or thriller relies on a lot of computer-generated imagery (CGI) or special effects (SFX) for these scenes so it’s great to see a film that has no need for over the top extras. With Bad Day for the Cut (2017) it relies on the actors and a great revenge plot to create this well-rounded film. Before doing research on the films in Northern Ireland I had no idea this movie existed and with attention to detail and plot twists that I didn’t expect I’d definitely recommend it. Bad Day for the Cut (2017) is available to watch, for the meantime, on Netflix UK.
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