Badlands is a 1973 American neo-noir[2] period crime drama film written, produced and directed by Terrence Malick, in his directorial debut.

While the story is fictional, it is loosely based on the real-life murder spree of Charles Starkweather and his girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate, in 1958.

[3] Badlands was released in 1973 to positive reviews from critics, who particularly praised its cinematography, soundtrack—which includes pieces by Carl Orff—and the lead performances.

[4][5][6] In 1959, Holly Sargis narrates the film as a 15-year-old living in Fort Dupree, a dead-end South Dakota town.

Holly meets Kit Carruthers, a 25-year-old garbage collector, troubled greaser and Korean War veteran.

He charms the arresting officers and National Guard troops, tossing them his personal belongings as souvenirs of his crime spree.

[9] "I wrote and, at the same time, developed a kind of sales kit with slides and video tape of actors, all with a view to presenting investors with something that would look ready to shoot," Malick said.

Malick found her small-town Texas roots and accent were perfect for the part of the naive impressionable high school girl.

[12] Principal photography took place in Colorado starting in July 1972, with a non-union crew and a low budget of $300,000 (excluding some deferments to film labs and actors).

Malick himself had an uncredited cameo after the actor hired to play 'Caller at Rich Man's House' failed to show up.

[13] Both Weber and art designer Jack Fisk worked on all of Malick's subsequent features through 2016 (The Tree of Life, To the Wonder, Knight of Cups).

"[8] At a news conference coinciding with the film's festival debut, Malick called Kit "so desensitized that [he] can regard the gun with which he shoots people as a kind of magic wand that eliminates small nuisances.

"[3] Malick also pointed out that "Kit and Holly even think of themselves as living in a fairy tale", and he felt this was appropriate since "children's books like Treasure Island were often filled with violence."

"[8] The film makes repeated use of the short composition Gassenhauer from Carl Orff's and Gunild Keetman's Schulwerk, and also uses other tunes by Erik Satie, Nat "King" Cole, Mickey & Sylvia and James Taylor.

[8] Warner Bros. initially previewed the film on a double bill with the Mel Brooks comedy Blazing Saddles, resulting in very negative audience response.

[13] The film has a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an average score of 8.9/10 based on the reviews of 59 critics, with the general consensus being "Terrence Malick's debut is a masterful slice of American cinema, rife with the visual poetry and measured performances that would characterize his work.

"[25] Vincent Canby, who saw the film at the festival debut, called it a "cool, sometimes brilliant, always ferociously American film"; according to Canby, "Sheen and Miss Spacek are splendid as the self-absorbed, cruel, possibly psychotic children of our time, as are the members of the supporting cast, including Warren Oates as Holly's father.

"[3] In April 1974, Jay Cocks wrote that the film "might better be regarded less as a companion piece to Bonnie and Clyde than as an elaboration and reply.

[13] David Thomson conversely reported that the work was "by common consent [...] one of the most remarkable first feature films made in America.

"[26] Writing years later for The Chicago Reader, Dave Kehr wrote: "Malick's 1973 first feature is a film so rich in ideas it hardly knows where to turn.

Transcendent themes of love and death are fused with a pop-culture sensibility and played out against a midwestern background, which is breathtaking both in its sweep and in its banality.

There's this strange piece of classical music [an ethereal orchestration of Erik Satie's Trois Morceaux en forme de Poire], and a very long-lens shot.