Believe it or not, an alien society is quietly living among us, and in Dempsey Tillman’s The Bad Ones, they’ve been here longer than anyone wants to admit. But what happens when the beings living next door decide your family is next?
Aaron (Brandon Fobbs) is an ordinary guy living in suburbia. At night, he has visions of an alien in his home leaving behind its black, symbiote-like goo, and it enraptures him. Was it only a nightmare…or was it? Later, he’s on YouTube researching stories of people whose experiences match his dream. This can’t be a mere coincidence.
He’s then interrupted by his pregnant wife, Miriam (Amanda Maddox), who wants Aaron to consider a water birth at home. Not exactly the right time for this conversation. That night, all goes to hell as Miriam starts experiencing contractions too soon, and instead of her water breaking, it’s that black goo. The two head to the bathroom, and everything goes wrong amid the panic. Somehow the baby is born…sort of…and the black goo attacks, abducting Miriam and the baby and leaving Aaron alone with a wild story and no family.
Scared, he calls the police, and Detective Ruiz (Cecilia Kim) and Detective Daniels (Matthew Boylan) are pulled onto the case. Daniels can’t stand Aaron’s sniveling demeanor, and Ruiz has some connection to what happened to him.
“Miriam starts experiencing contractions too soon, and instead of her water breaking, it’s that black goo.”
I’ll start with the most intriguing aspects of The Bad Ones. First, it’s an indie sci-fi episodic series that goes for gold in its attempt to rival traditional Hollywood productions. With the current decline in production, I believe Hollywood is moving toward filmmaker Dempsey Tillman’s tale rather than the other way around. The fact that it’s a multi-episode series, with a well-thought-out marketing campaign and merch, is truly impressive. As they say, “Go big or go home.”
The other aspect of the discussion is its copious use of generative AI to create the aliens, gooey baby, special effects, and B-camera shots, which is again…impressive. The goal here is to seamlessly blend the real and the AI. I don’t think it’s there yet, but it’s probably the best I’ve seen thus far.
I have only seen the first four episodes, which slowly build their overarching conspiracy…who are these aliens, what do they want, and how the hell are they doing it? Tillman turns up the creepy factor, plays with as much body horror as his budget allows, and puts together a cast that is fully on board for the ride. Whoever the granny is? Beautiful casting. Each episode comes at you in easy-to-digest chunks, even if the body horror might make you spit it out. It’s an engaging series that can use some tired-of-Hollywood charm.
The Bad Ones is Dempsey Tillman going toe-to-toe with Hollywood on an indie budget and an AI toolkit, and he comes surprisingly close to landing the punch. Four episodes in, I’m creeped out, I’m curious, and I’m sticking around to see how deep this conspiracy goes.
The Bad Ones can be streamed on YouTube.
