The Wind
Reviews
SWITCH.
Horror Westerns are incredibly hard to accomplish, and director Emma Tammi’s boldness and imagination makes ‘The Wind’ a spooky breath of fresh air. - Jake Watt Read Jake's full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-the-wind-a-paranoid-western-nightmare Head to https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/sff for more Sydney Film Festival reviews.
Stephen Campbell
**_Very well made and genuinely creepy socio-political allegory, although the ambiguity and pacing won't be for everyone_** > _Disbelief is not just about men disbelieving us. It is about our own disbelief in ourselves._ - Amber Tamblyn; "I'm Done With Not Being Believed"; _The New York Times_ (September 16, 2017) _The Wind_ is ostensibly a horror movie about a woman being terrorised by a demon on the American frontier. However, look a little deeper, and you'll find it may very well be a study of prairie madness. However, look even deeper, and it's really a metaphorical examination of the mindset of a less enlightened time, when women were very much second-class citizens who were expected to tend to the home and do little else. A fiercely feminist appropriation of that most masculine of genres - the western - it deals with traditionally gendered themes such as frontier domesticity and postpartum depression, remaining always within the genre's paradigms, even whilst challenging many of that genre's most fundamental tropes. Although it could be accused of wilfully ignoring the narrative of colonial violence and the fact that American pioneers were land thieves who displaced entire populations and destroyed indigenous cultures, the film is nevertheless an examination of the inherent dangers of attempting to cultivate a vast "uncivilised" land (both psychological and otherwise). Bleak and pared back, it's one of those films whose lack of budget actually works in its favour (there are only six cast members and one location). A slow-burner that relies on shadows and sound effects, it's built on atmosphere, tone, and escalating psychological terror (there's only one jump scare, although it's a damn good one), in the tradition of Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez's _The Blair Witch Project_ (1999), and more recent similarly staged films such as Jennifer Kent's _The Babadook_ (2014), Robert Eggers's _The VVitch: A New England Folk Tale_ (2016), Ari Aster's _Hereditary_ (2018), and, to a lesser degree, Trey Edward Shults's examination of post-apocalyptic psychological disintegration, _It Comes at Night_ (2017). With a wonderfully ambiguous _dénouement_, gorgeous cinematography, and chilling sound design, this is an impressive piece of work from first-time director Emma Tammi. Adapted by Teresa Sutherland from Dorothy Scarborough's 1925 novel of the same name, _The Wind_ is set somewhere on the frontier of New Mexico in the late nineteenth century. Structured achronologically, the story focuses on Lizzy Macklin (a very impressive Caitlin Gerard), a young wife who lives with her husband Isaac (Ashley Zukerman) in an isolated cabin on the prairie. The two have a solid marriage, one could even call it progressive for the time, built on mutual respect. However, so isolated is the cabin, that when Isaac leaves for supplies, he can be gone for weeks at a time, leaving Lizzy struggling with loneliness, monotony, and the psychological effects of a failed pregnancy. The film intercuts the present timeframe, which sees Lizzy once again alone, with relevant backstory, revealing that when another young couple - Gideon (Dylan McTee) and Emma Harper (Julia Goldani Telles) - purchase the only other cabin anywhere within walking distance, Lizzy and Isaac are cautiously optimistic about having new neighbours. It soon becomes apparent that Gideon and Emma are not made for frontier life, coming to rely on Lizzy and Isaac for everything from planting crops to basic medical issues, and when Emma becomes pregnant, she and Lizzy bond even further. However, over time, Emma becomes convinced that an evil entity is stalking her. Determining that she is disturbed, Lizzy tries to help as best she can, whilst Isaac keeps Gideon out of the way, but Emma's condition grows progressively worse, to the point where Lizzy ties her to the bed for her own safety. Meanwhile, in the present, much as Emma had, Lizzy begins to feel that the same entity is stalking her, a dark and unknowable force that seems to arise from the very wind sweeping across the prairie. However, is she suffering from the same delusion as Emma, or do they both fear something very real? _The Wind_ really hits the ground running with a brilliantly conceived and downright ballsy dialogue-free opening scene. With the as yet unintroduced Isaac and Gideon standing outside the Macklin cabin, Lizzy emerges from within, her white dress soaked in blood, carrying the lifeless body of a newborn baby. Shot by cinematographer Lyn Moncrief (quite a talent) using an extremely cold colour palette of muted blues and whites, the red of the blood really pops, driving home the visceral (and all too real) horror of whatever has just happened. And that's even before the slam cut to one of the most disturbing and realistic cinematic corpses I've seen in a long time. The scene perfectly sets the tone, whilst also providing vital plot information _and_ conveying how unforgiving the _milieu_ can be - all without a single word of dialogue, with Tammi's control over the medium belying her lack of experience. This scene occurs at roughly the mid-way point of the story, and it becomes apparent in the third scene that the film is using a non-linear narrative structure that requires viewers pay attention, with temporal jumps often indicated by nothing but bridging sounds, or occasionally subtle changes in wardrobe and/or hair. Although the last act does settle into a slightly more linear style, the film gets a lot of mileage out of the temporal discontinuity, forcing the audience to question the order and often significance of seemingly inconsequential events, skewering how we would receive the story were it told in sequence, and putting us on edge from the get-go. Much as the film relies on either/or ambiguity, so too does the narrative structure, with any given scene possibly vital, or possibly not. The fact that we are often uncertain as to exactly where we are in the timeline also mirrors Lizzy's own uncertainty regarding what's happening to Emma, and ultimately, what's happening to herself. From an aesthetic point of view, although Tammi and Moncrief certainly show the beauty of the New Mexico landscape, they also refuse to romanticise it. This is a harsh world that will punish anyone who doesn't afford it suitable respect, even without the introduction of supernatural elements. As the film progresses, and we get deeper and deeper into Lizzy's psychosis/haunting, Moncrief shoots the initially vast-open plains in such a way as to become increasingly claustrophobic - there are more scenes at night when we are unable to see more than a couple of feet; there are fewer high-elevation shots, trapping the audience at ground level with Lizzy; the skies become darker, more foreboding, and more oppressive; there are more tightly-framed interior shots. This sets up a visual paradox that recalls the cinematography of _Blair Witch_ - although the characters are out in the open, they are very much imprisoned by their environment. Especially important in the film's atmosphere is Juan Campos's exceptional sound design, which elevates the evocation of dread several notches above what it would otherwise have been, as gunshots, slammed doors, and screams deafeningly pierce the silence without warning. Particularly of note is the sound of the wind itself, which is normal enough to be recognisable, but unusual enough to be unsettling; is that a voice drifting across the plains, or is it a trick of the senses? This works in tandem with Moncrief's excellent use of shadows to suggest a horror that's always just slightly off-camera (which, of course, is far more terrifying than anything that could be shown). Indeed, apart from a single jump-scare (albeit, an effective one), the film's tone is conveyed exclusively through sound and shadow. Tammi is more concerned with mood and ambiguity than in revealing the "monster", and in this, the sound design and cinematography serve her extremely well. Elsewhere, there are some really nice and often subtle directorial touches. A good example is a scene when Lizzy watches Emma bring Isaac and Gideon some water as they plant crops. She hands a cup of water to Gideon for him to drink himself, but she raises the cup to Isaac's mouth, something noticed by Lizzy herself. It's an easy to miss detail that may, or may not, prove to be important later on. In another pivotal scene, in which Isaac confronts Lizzy about her claims that a demon is stalking her, the two are sitting at the kitchen table as we look at them from the side, and in the middle of the conversation Tammi crosses the line, breaking the 180-degree rule, and recalling Michael Mann's use of the same technique in a similarly blocked and equally as important scene in _The Insider_ (1999). Thematically, whilst it may not appear on the surface, _The Wind_ actually has a lot to say. For starters, the sudden arrival of Gideon and Emma facilitates an examination of the nature of existence on the edge of civilisation, beyond simply using them to illustrate that not everyone is cut out for this lifestyle. Despite the isolation and loneliness, Lizzy seems hesitant to welcome new neighbours, lamenting to Isaac that they will have to get to know the new couple; "_in the city, strangers stay strangers. Out here, we don't have that luck_". Later on, when Emma asks if there's a church nearby, Lizzy tells her, "_not enough folk around here yet_". This lets us know just how sparsely populated and isolated we really are, with the absence of even organised religion, whilst also subtly suggesting this is a Godless place. And of course, there's the inherent ambiguity; is there literally a demon stalking Lizzy, or has the stress of isolation, the loss of her baby, and the events involving the Harveys simply pushed her over the edge into psychosis? Tammi (and actress Caitlin Gerard) handle this ambiguity beautifully, veering first in one direction and then in another, culminating in a captivating final shot that addresses all of our questions whilst answering none of them. However, Tammi's main thematic preoccupation is a metaphorical examination of a pre-#MeToo era and its concomitant mindset. Horror has always been a fertile breeding-ground for socio-political probing, with Jordan Peele's _Get Out_ (2017) as probably the best known recent example. Others would include George A. Romero examining racism in _Night of the Living Dead_ (1968) and consumerism in _Dawn of the Dead_ (1978), David Cronenberg looking at paranoia relating to technology in _Videodrome_ (1983), John Carpenter exploring mass media-manipulation and the subjugation of the working-class in _They Live_ (1988), Brian Yuzna critiquing elitism in _Society_ (1989), Wes Craven satirising Reagan-era politics in _The People Under the Stairs_ (1991), and Bong Joon-ho making an environmental plea in _The Host_ (2006). In the case of _The Wind_, it's a sustained allegory for pre-#MeToo politics - a powerful monster targets a vulnerable woman, terrorising her with impunity, whilst the man in her life (and in the case of Emma, even other women) don't believe her claims, basically telling her she should be a good girl and stop causing such a fuss. It couldn't be any clearer if the demon's name was Harvey! The film very clearly shows that Lizzy suffers almost as much from the fact that Isaac doesn't believe her as she does from her conviction in the presence of the entity. That the film is a feminised appropriation of the western mythos serves only to drive home the allegorical nature of the story. Lizzy is, on the surface, a stock character - "the wife", the one who looks after the home whilst the men are out doing manly things. So even though she has a relatively progressive marriage, the fact that she may be mentally ill is not something about which Isaac concerns himself; mental illness or not, her role is to maintain the home. This is one of the great ironies at the heart of the film; whether she is literally being haunted or is suffering a breakdown, it doesn't matter, because Isaac isn't going to do anything either way; he no more believes in the demon she claims is stalking her than he is concerned for her psychological well-being. Irrespective of the cause (haunting or breakdown), the dangers of which she warns are very real, and his failure to understand that fact adds to the socio-political framework that Tammi so carefully constructs. And the crucial point here is that Isaac isn't a bad husband; he's just very much of his era. _The Wind_ is an extremely impressive horror-western. But it's an even more impressive study of isolation and (possible) psychological disintegration. Genuinely creepy in places, Tammi and her crew have created an exceptionally well-crafted film rich in feminist connotations all the while remaining faithful to a genre not exactly known for its nuanced depictions of women.
Movie Recommendation
Happy Flight2008-11-15A variety of aviation professionals such as pilots, flight attendants, the ground crew, mechanics, dispatchers, controllers, and the bird patrol crew all support a single flight. They have only one mission: to secure the safety of the passengers.More...
If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd2018-03-13The story of Lynyrd Skynyrd; The Greatest American Rock Band Ever. We fly beyond Free Bird to celebrate the life & times of leader Ronnie Van Zant, from boogie-woogie beginnings in Jacksonville’s Shantytown to a tragic end in a Mississippi swamp.More...
Artik2019-09-10In rural farm country, a comic book obsessed serial killer clashes with a straight edge purist over a young boy's fate.More...
Body at Brighton Rock2019-03-23When an inexperienced park ranger finds a dead body under mysterious circumstances on a remote mountain trail, she must guard it overnight until authorities can arrive, forcing her to confront some of her deepest, darkest fears.More...
The Dawn2019-09-27Following the murder of her family at the hands of her father in the wake of World War I, a young woman is sent to live in a convent. However, the demons that plagued her father follow, reawakening the nightmares of her past.More...
The Head Hunter2019-04-05On the outskirts of a kingdom, a quiet but fierce medieval warrior protects the realm from monsters and the occult. His gruesome collection of heads is missing only one - the monster that killed his daughter years ago. Driven by a thirst for revenge, he travels wild expanses on horseback. When his second chance arrives, it’s in a way far more horrifying than he ever imagined.More...
The Field Guide to Evil2018-10-11A feature-length anthology film. They are known as myths, lore, and folktales. Created to give logic to mankind’s darkest fears, these stories laid the foundation for what we now know as the horror genre.More...
Bliss2019-09-27In need of creative inspiration, a professionally stagnant and hard-partying Los Angeles artist recklessly indulges in a series of drug binges. As the narcotics fly out of control, so does her newfound and inexplicable, yet unquenchable, craving for blood.More...
And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself2003-09-07In 1914, the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa invites studios to shoot his actual battles against Porfírio Diaz army to raise funds for financing guns and ammunition. The Mutual Film Corporation, through producer D.W. Griffith, interests for the proposition and sends the filmmaker Frank Thayer to negotiate a contract with Pancho Villa himself.More...
The Final Wish2019-01-24Following the passing of his father, Aaron Hammond returns to his hometown to help his devastated mother and to confront his past demons. Sifting through his father’s belongings, Aaron comes upon a mysterious item that is far more than it seems.More...
Badla2019-03-08A dynamic young entrepreneur finds herself locked in a hotel room with the corpse of her dead lover. She hires a prestigious lawyer to defend her and they work together to figure out what actually happened.More...
Penthouse North2013-04-17A reclusive, blind photojournalist lives quietly in a New York penthouse with her boyfriend, until a smooth but sadistic criminal looking for a hidden fortune enters her life.More...
Strange But True2019-10-17A woman surprises the family of her deceased boyfriend by telling them she's pregnant with his child.More...
Hagazussa2018-05-17In the 15th century, a young goatherd living alone in a mountain hut feels a dark presence in the woods.More...
Dracula: The Original Living Vampire2022-01-28Detective Amelia Van Helsing is on the desperate hunt for the killer responsible for a string of grisly murders targeting young women. Matters only worsen when all evidence leads to the seemingly untouchable Count Dracula. And when Van Helsing’s girlfriend vanishes, she is forced to question the very existence of monsters in a final showdown with the enigmatic count.More...
VFW2019-09-21A typical night for veterans at a VFW turns into an all-out battle for survival when a desperate teen runs into the bar with a bag of stolen drugs. When a gang of violent punks come looking for her, the vets use every weapon at their disposal to protect the girl and themselves from an unrelenting attack.More...
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid1973-05-23Pat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid.More...
Thunder Road2018-09-12A police officer faces a personal meltdown following a divorce and the death of his mother.More...
Arctic2018-11-21A man stranded in the Arctic is finally about to receive his long awaited rescue. However, after a tragic accident, his opportunity is lost and he must then decide whether to remain in the relative safety of his camp or embark on a deadly trek through the unknown for potential salvation.More...
The Crucifixion2017-04-27When a priest is jailed for the murder of a nun on whom he was performing an exorcism, an investigative journalist strives to determine whether he in fact murdered a mentally ill person, or if he lost the battle with a demonic presence.More...
Similar Movies
Youth Without Youth
2007-10-26Professor of language and philosophy Dominic Matei is struck by lightning and ages backwards from 70 to 40 in a week, attracting the world and the Nazis. While on the run, the professor meets a young woman who has her own experience with a lightning storm. Not only does Dominic find love again, but her new abilities hold the key to his research.The Wolfman
2010-02-10Lawrence Talbot, an American man on a visit to Victorian London to make amends with his estranged father, gets bitten by a werewolf and, after a moonlight transformation, leaves him with a savage hunger for flesh.Black
2024-10-11Vasanth and Aaranya, a couple move into a serene row house, eager for peace and privacy, but a violent storm leaves them trapped inside, unsettling supernatural disturbances threaten to unravel their marriage. Vasanth must uncover the truth behind these supernatural occurrences before everything falls apart.Carrie
2002-11-04An awkward, telekinetic teenage girl's lonely life is dominated by relentless bullying at school and an oppressive religious fanatic mother at home. When her tormentors pull a humiliating prank at the senior prom, she unleashes a horrifying chaos on everyone, leaving nothing but destruction in her wake.Sahara
2005-04-06Seasoned adventurer and treasure hunter Dirk Pitt, a former Navy SEAL, sets out for the African desert with his wisecracking buddy Al in search of a confederate ironclad battleship rumored to have vanished long ago, the main draw being the treasure supposedly hidden within the lost vessel. When the daring duo come across Dr. Eva Rojas, a beautiful scientist who is juggling an escape from a warlord and a mission to stop the spread of a powerful plague, their desert expedition begins to heat up.Gorky Park
1983-12-15Police Inspector Renko tries to solve the case of three bodies found in Moscow's Gorky Park but finds his attempts to solve the crime impeded by his superiors. Working on his own, Renko seeks out more information and stumbles across a conspiracy involving the highest levels of the government.Blindness
2008-05-14When a sudden plague of blindness devastates a city, a small group of the afflicted band together to triumphantly overcome the horrific conditions of their imposed quarantine.Linnaisten vihreä kam...
1945-02-04A nobleman in 1830's Finland has to contend with stuck-up relatives, his daughters' suitors, dark secrets from his family's past, mistaken identities and a haunted wing of his mansion.The Hitcher
2007-01-19While driving through the New Mexico Desert during a rainy night, college students Jim Halsey and his girlfriend Grace Andrews give a ride to a hitchhiker. While in their car, the stranger proves to be a psychopath threatening the young couple with a knife, but Jim successfully throws him out of the car. This sets off a chain of events that will change all of their lives forever.The Nun
2018-09-05A priest with a haunted past and a novice on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate the death of a young nun in Romania and confront a malevolent force in the form of a demonic nun.Disturbia
2007-03-27Kale has a life most teenagers would envy. He spends his days endlessly playing video games, surfing the net, eating junk food and watching cable. He has complete free reign of the house, and a beautiful young hottie named Ashley has just moved in next door. There’s only one problem—he’s not allowed to leave the house. Kale’s under court-ordered house arrest for three months, and if he takes one step beyond a 100-foot perimeter of the house, his next confinement will be in a real prison.Slender Man
2018-05-17In a small town in Massachusetts, four high school girls perform a ritual in an attempt to debunk the lore of Slender Man. When one of the girls goes mysteriously missing, they begin to suspect that she is, in fact, his latest victim.Day of the Dead
1985-07-03A small group of scientists and soldiers take refuge in an underground missile silo where they struggle to control the flesh-eating dead that walks the Earth above.Black Fox: The Price ...
1995-08-04After blaming Britt for his wife's decision to stay with the Native Americans who captured her, an abusive husband organizes a party of vigilantes to accompany him into Indian territory.Nero Wolfe
1979-12-19Gourmet Nero Wolfe interrupts his orchid-tending to take on the case of a lady tycoon who wants to know why she's under investigation by the FBI, only to find himself enmeshed in a puzzling murder-mystery. TV movie based on Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series.Tokyo: The Last War
1989-09-15The year is 1945. After the horrific fire-bombings of the Pacific War levels Japan to the ground, the government decides to consult spiritual psychics to aid them in winning the war. Unfortunately, the resentment and agony of the souls of the fire-bombing victims culminate together to revive the evil Onmyoji, Yasunori Kato. Only a young, psychically imbued apprentice of the priests will dare fight against the evil magic user. However, can this lone man possibly contend with Kato's overwhelming power?Funny Games
2008-03-14When Ann, husband George, and son Georgie arrive at their holiday home they are visited by a pair of polite and seemingly pleasant young men. Armed with deceptively sweet smiles and some golf clubs, they proceed to terrorize and torture the tight-knit clan, giving them until the next day to survive.Wild Wild West
1999-06-30Legless Southern inventor Dr. Arliss Loveless plans to rekindle the Civil War by assassinating President Ulysses S. Grant. Only two men can stop him: gunfighter James West and master-of-disguise and inventor Artemus Gordon. The two must team up to thwart Loveless' plans.Devil in a Blue Dress...
1995-09-29In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet, who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city's black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.Shanghai Noon
2000-05-26Chon Wang, a clumsy imperial guard, trails Princess Pei Pei when she's kidnapped from the Forbidden City and transported to America. Wang follows her captors to Nevada, where he teams up with an unlikely partner, outcast outlaw Roy O'Bannon, and tries to spring the princess from her imprisonment.