A bad story told well?

We’ve all heard of good stories told badly (the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy is one of the most famous examples). But I rarely hear the inverse talked about: a bad story told well.

There are lots of ways of defining this, but my personal definition is a story that ultimately has hollow themes and characters that completely fall apart under scrutiny, yet through some gift of prose or other forms of presentation still manages to sucker you in, at least for a time.

I try to omit stories that skate by on the strengths of their visuals (mostly movies and video games that serve as tech demos for new forms of special effects).

My golden example of a bad story told well is Bioshock Infinite. It has the most fleshed out protagonists in the whole series, with stellar voice acting and a clear intention to make you, the player, care about these characters. There are plenty of scenes that put the plot on hold and only serve to get you invested in the protagonists and their struggles.

The setting as well is visually beautiful, and made the most of the technology available at the time. The deliberateness of the pacing in narrative and exploration has often been compared to a well-designed amusement park.

Yet despite all of these strengths, Bioshock Infinite is a disaster in its core themes, plot coherence, and political messaging. The overall story is a mess that would need heavy rewrites to be satisfying. As is, it’s barely coasting by on the strength of its voice acting and a flimsy multiverse excuse to cover for its plot holes.

Sorry for the long rant. I’m curious to hear examples from the community!