Badlands (1973)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A young couple embarks on a violent, drifting journey through the American wilderness after a fatal crime.
The story
In 1959, 15-year-old Holly Sargis lives in a dead-end South Dakota town where she meets Kit Carruthers, a troubled 25-year-old veteran. After a period of growing intimacy, Kit's violent and anti-social tendencies are revealed. Following a confrontation with Holly's father, the pair flees into the wilderness. They travel through the badlands of Montana, seeking a life of isolation. However, their flight is marked by escalating violence as they encounter others in their path, eventually becoming targets of law enforcement as they move toward the Canadian border.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1959, Holly Sargis, a 15-year-old in South Dakota, meets Kit Carruthers, a 25-year-old troubled veteran. After a violent altercation where Kit kills Holly's father, the pair flees into the Montana badlands. They live in a remote area, where Kit kills three men he believes are bounty hunters and later shoots a man named Cato. They eventually take a car and supplies from a wealthy man's mansion. As they flee toward Canada, they are pursued by police. Holly eventually tires of the life on the run and turns herself in. Kit leads the police on a chase before being captured; he is later executed. The film ends with Holly revealing she was paroled and married the son of her defense attorney.
- First release year
- 1973
- Runtime (minutes)
- 93
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Terrence Malick
- Writers
- Terrence Malick · writer
- Cast and characters
- Martin Sheen · Kit Carruthers; Sissy Spacek · Holly Sargis; Warren Oates · Holly's father; Ramon Bieri
- Genres
- neo-noir; period crime drama
- Themes
- love and death; isolation; fairy tale
- Tone and mood
- dreamy; poetic
- Setting
- South Dakota and Montana, 1959
- Premise and plot tags
- road movie; true crime based; psychopaths
- Source material / true-story basis
- loosely based on the real-life murder spree of Charles Starkweather and his girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate, in 1958
- Reception
- The film received critical acclaim for its direction, cinematography, and performances, and was later selected for the National Film Registry.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 97% · scale: percentage · review count: 61
- Awards and nominations
- Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles · British Academy Film Awards · nomination; Best Actor · San Sebastián International Film Festival · win
- Production trivia
- The film was initially previewed with the comedy Blazing Saddles, resulting in a negative audience response.; Terrence Malick made a cameo as the man at the rich man's door.; The film was selected for the National Film Registry in 1993.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…