Midweek Mention... Black Snake Moan

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Welcome back to Bad Dads Film Review, where this week we tackle one of the more provocative and unexpected Southern dramas of the 2000s: Black Snake Moan. Directed by Craig Brewer (coming off the back of Hustle & Flow), this 2006 film is a steamy, blues-soaked morality tale that’s equal parts sweaty melodrama, redemption story, and twisted fairy tale.

Set in the heat-hazed Deep South, the film centres around Lazarus (Samuel L. Jackson), a recently heartbroken, God-fearing bluesman trying to make sense of his life after his wife leaves him. One morning he discovers Rae (Christina Ricci), a beaten, half-naked young woman, lying unconscious on the roadside outside his home.

Rae, it turns out, is in the grip of a destructive form of hypersexuality, fuelled by childhood trauma and exacerbated by the departure of her boyfriend Ronnie (Justin Timberlake), who's been sent off to the military. Convinced that he’s been given a sign from God, Lazarus decides to "cure" Rae of her demons—by chaining her to his radiator and keeping her indoors until she’s healed.

Yes, you read that right.

 Samuel L. Jackson gives one of his more underrated performances here, dialling down the swagger and leaning into quiet intensity. Christina Ricci is absolutely fearless—vulnerable, unhinged, and magnetic. Together, their dynamic is unpredictable and uncomfortable, but strangely compelling.

Black Snake Moan is not one for a casual Friday night with the kids. It’s adult in every sense—narratively, thematically, and visually. But for those looking for a film that gets under the skin, challenges moral assumptions, and leans into some serious swampy weirdness, it’s worth the plunge.

It’s also a rare thing: a redemption story that’s not afraid to be messy, ambiguous, and morally murky. You might not love it, but you probably won’t forget it.

Like the blues songs it honours, Black Snake Moan is raw, aching, and full of contradictions. It’s about broken people trying to find healing in a world that doesn’t offer easy answers. Misunderstood by some, championed by others, it’s a film that howls with pain but hums with strange hope.

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Until next time, we remain...

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