Badlands (1973)

A tale of love and murder set in 1959 South Dakota. Martin Sheen plays a disillusioned twenty-five-year-old named Kit, a Korean War veteran who charms naïve fifteen-year-old Holly (Sissy Spacek). The duo shun the modern world, existing for a time in a self-made haven that works in theory but can't rid Kit of his aggressive inner-feelings. As such, trouble isn't far away.
The slow pace is helped by a philosophical voice-over from Sissy's character, reflective of her world-view but influenced by a mature hindsight and somehow complementary to the strange serenity that Dir. Terrence Malick infuses mundane activities with. It was his début feature but has his unique stamp throughout, as if he came to film-making fully formed.

3 empty bathtubs out of 5