Bruce Willis & Megan Fox's Crime Thriller Flop Is A Streaming Hit On Netflix

In 2021, producer Randall Emmett took a shot at directing his own gritty police drama with "Midnight in the Switchgrass," based on the real story of a Texas-based serial killer which stars Megan Fox, Emile Hirsch, and Bruce Willis. Not only would the film eventually be mired in controversy — Emmett was accused of following loosely in Harvey Weinstein's footsteps when it comes to running a "casting couch" for young actresses and was reportedly even abusive to an ailing Willis on set — but it was a huge flop when it released, which it only did in limited theaters and on video-on-demand. (I'll circle back to some of that controversy, as well as the reason why Willis reportedly struggled to film the project, in just a bit.) Still, according to FlixPatrol, it's now one of Netflix's most-watched films after just a handful of days on the platform.

So what is the movie about? Well, Willis plays an FBI agent named Karl Heller who, alongside his partner Rebecca Lombardo (Fox), are working to take down a sex-trafficking ring when they realize that they've ended up hot on the trail of a notorious serial killer (the movie also notably moves the action from Texas, where the real-life "Truck Stop Killer," Robert Ben Rhoades, operated, to Florida). In the Sunshine State, Rebecca and Karl start working with a local lawman named Byron Crawford (Hirsch), and when Rebecca is captured by the killer, trucker Peter Hillborough (Lukas Haas), Byron and Karl must work together to take the murderer down and save Rebecca.

If the fact that "Midnight in the Switchgrass" went directly to video-on-demand doesn't seem like a good sign to you, you're on the right track; the film was panned by critics upon its release in the summer of 2021. So what did they say, exactly?

The Rotten Tomatoes critical consensus "Midnight in the Switchgrass" calls the film "dull and predictable," concluding that it "squanders an evocative setting and some committed performances on a would-be thriller that rarely raises a sweat" — so it shouldn't come as a surprise that it only earned an 8% rating on the platform. Individual critics were pretty blunt about the film's worst qualities; as Ben Kenigsberg wrote for The New York Times, "The atmosphere is thoroughly sleazy without being distinctive, and everything about the movie — the emotionless line readings, the half-baked back stories — exudes a terse functionality." For Slant Magazine, Mark Hanson went after the director himself, saying, "Randall Emmett's directorial debut is virtually indistinguishable from the scores of cheap VOD action thrillers that he's produced to date."

Lovia Gyarkye, in her review for The Hollywood Reporter, basically said the movie was a failure from top to bottom: "The movie, which bills itself as a crime-thriller-mystery, doesn't come close to fulfilling even the lowest of expectations; it neither takes it characters seriously nor commits to its superficial attempt at topicality." Guardian's Leslie Felperin was perhaps the most direct about the whole thing; as she put it, "If there were still shops around where one could rent or buy videos or DVDs, this is the sort of movie you'd expect to see in the straight-to-retail bargain bin." Still, a handful of critics — like Owen Gleiberman writing for Variety — seemed to understand that the film wasn't necessarily meant to be a work of art. "It's a functional piece of exploitation — an efficient little crime-porn snuff-thriller potboiler," he concluded. "It's like a fast-food meal that makes you think, 'Okay, that wasn't good for me, but I got what I paid for.'"

One of the saddest things about "Midnight in the Switchgrass" is that it's one of Bruce Willis' final movies. In 2022, Willis, with the help of his family — including his ex-wife Demi Moore, who appears to be close friends with his current wife Emma Heming — revealed that he was suffering from aphasia, and in February of the following year, they released a statement in conjunction with the Association for Frontotemporal Dementia. "Since we announced Bruce's diagnosis of aphasia in spring 2022, Bruce's condition has progressed and we now have a more specific diagnosis: frontotemporal dementia (known as FTD)," the statement, which represents Willis and his family, read in part. "Unfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces. While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis."

Add to this that, according to a massive exposé in the Los Angeles Times that ran in 2022, "Midnight in the Switchgrass" director apparently got angry at Willis during filming because the actor had trouble remembering his lines and performing stunts. Still, Willis turns in an admirable performance in the film when you consider that he was struggling with his mental acuity, so if you're trying to honor the actor with a full marathon of his work, you can watch "Midnight in the Switchgrass" on Netflix now.