There's a moment in the trailer for Bad Man—just a flicker of a shot—where Seann William Scott, thick-bearded and leather-clad, slowly walks through a ring of crime scene tape with a pistol dangling from his fingers. And I swear to god, it looks like he's been waiting twenty years to shoot this exact scene. Not since Goon have I seen him look this dangerous. Or this dialed-in.
Yeah, that's right. Stifler's all grown up. And he's done playing nice.
The latest from screenwriter-turned-director Michael Diliberti (30 Minutes or Less), Bad Man is a weird little beast—a backwater meth-town action-comedy with more attitude than polish, and honestly, that might be the point. Set in the fictional Colt Lake, Tennessee, the film drops us into the opioid-riddled underbelly of small-town America, where justice is less about procedure and more about presence. Cue the sunglasses. Cue the slow-mo. Cue the explosions.
Two Cops Walk Into a Meth Lab…
The setup's straight out of a gritty buddy cop flick—if one of the cops was a disgraced local football hero and the other looked like he just stepped out of a Michael Bay fever dream. Enter Sam Evans (Scott), a small-town deputy clinging to relevance. When a high-profile murder rocks the community, in struts Bobby Gaines (Rob Riggle), an undercover narcotics hotshot sent by the state. Suddenly Evans is yesterday's news—and Gaines is the golden boy.
But of course, Gaines isn't who he says he is. (Is he ever?) And as the bodies stack up and the “hero cop” glow begins to dim, Evans starts digging into his new partner's past… and surprise surprise—things get murky, fast.
It's not the most original story in the world, but Bad Man knows what it is: grimy, pulpy, slightly unhinged fun. Think Eastbound & Down meets Narc, but with way more barbecue smoke and fewer rules. There's a shootout in a gas station. There's a high-speed chase with a cow in the road. There's a line of dialogue that literally goes: “Plenty of room on Main Street for more dead city boys.”
God help me, I chuckled.
Diliberti Goes All In
This marks Michael Diliberti's directorial debut, and he's clearly swinging big. From the neon-lit interrogation rooms to the dirt-smeared pickup trucks, every frame screams grindhouse—but not in a Tarantino pastiche way. More like a Redbox special that actually delivers on its wild-ass cover art. There's no irony here, no wink. Just pure, blue-collar pulp.
Diliberti co-wrote the script with JJ Nelson, and while it leans heavy on the familiar, it does throw in just enough twists to keep the plot from stalling. The humor is blunt. The characters are broad. The violence? A little much, honestly. But hey, I've seen worse. (I saw Amsterdam sober. Twice.)
And let's be real—this thing lives or dies on Seann William Scott's shoulders. Thankfully, he's magnetic. There's something oddly poignant about watching a guy we used to laugh at finally get a role where we root for him. He doesn't play Sam Evans as a caricature or a burnout—he plays him as a guy who's already lost everything, but refuses to go quietly.
That's compelling. That's earned.
UK Gets It First. US? Still Waiting…
Bad Man is set to hit direct-to-VOD in the UK on September 15, 2025, courtesy of Vertigo Releasing. No US release has been confirmed yet, but I'd bet we'll see this crop up on a streamer by fall. Maybe Peacock. Maybe Amazon Prime. Probably not theaters—unless someone's feeling reckless.
Honestly? It might be worth the risk. Bad Man isn't trying to reinvent anything. But it does what it does—dirty justice, crooked heroes, slow-burn small-town revenge—and it does it with style.
Don't expect awards. Do expect gunfights in hardware stores and a sheriff yelling “This ain't Memphis, son!”
What to Know Before ‘Bad Man' Hits VOD
- Seann William Scott goes full antihero
Gone are the laughs—Scott's Deputy Sam Evans is a weary, gun-toting force of chaos. And it suits him. - Set in meth-ridden Tennessee, shot with grindhouse grit
Colt Lake feels like a character itself, oozing menace and nostalgia. You can almost smell the fried bologna and motor oil. - Buddy-cop formula, with a twist
Rob Riggle plays the slick outsider hero—but he's got secrets. The tension between him and Scott is the film's pulse. - Michael Diliberti's directorial debut pulls no punches
After penning 30 Minutes or Less, Diliberti cranks the volume and leans into pulp. It's messy, but weirdly effective. - UK VOD release confirmed for September 15, 2025
No US release yet, but it's coming. Probably streaming. Maybe cult-favorite status if the algorithm is kind.
So… will Bad Man become a sleeper favorite? Hard to say. It's got swagger, but it's also rough around the edges—like a bar fight that goes on a little too long. But damn if it doesn't leave a mark.
What do you think—does Seann William Scott deserve his gritty comeback? Or are we still clinging to nostalgia that's better left in 2001?
Let's argue. Hit the comments. And bring popcorn.
