Badlands (1973)

Badlands (1973), an American neo-noir crime drama film, marks the directorial debut of Terrence Malick. Holly Sargis, a 15-year-old in Fort Dupree, narrates the story from her perspective. Following her mother’s death from pneumonia, Holly’s relationship with her father, a sign painter, becomes strained. Her admiration for actor James Dean leads her to take notice of Kit Carruthers, a troubled greaser and Korean War veteran who shares similar features. As their bond deepens, Holly learns of Kit’s underlying violent and antisocial tendencies. Despite her father’s disapproval and his consequent punishment of killing her dog, Holly continues to see Kit who eventually breaks into her home and urges her to flee with him. When Holly’s father threatens to involve the authorities, Kit fatally shoots him. The two then stage their own deaths by setting fire to the house and escape to Montana’s badlands.

After building a tree house in a secluded area and surviving on a diet of fish and stolen chickens, the pair encountered three men (later revealed by Kit to be bounty hunters) who they quickly eliminated. In search of shelter, they turned to Kit’s former co-worker Cato, but when he attempted to call for help, Kit gunned him down as well. As they sought sanctuary in the storm cellar, a young couple stumbled upon them and were held captive. Despite blindly shooting into the closed door before leaving, it remains unknown if any harm came to them. The law soon caught up with them and they embarked on a desperate journey across the Midwest. In order to sustain themselves, they stopped at the lavish home of a wealthy man where they gathered supplies, clothing, and his Cadillac, yet spared the lives of both the man and his deaf housemaid.