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Wretch
USA 2019
produced by Matthew Dunehoo, Andy Bosnak
directed by Matthew Dunehoo
starring Martin L. Washington jr, Shannon Conley, Joe Rooney, Erin Day, Kevin Medlin, Maria Olsen, Cam Burns, Drake Treml, Andrew Neal, Tyler Orosz, Tobi Omodehinde, J. Will Fritz, Jamie Addison, Jada Monet, Jeff Pollock, Ed Downes, Rick Stasi, Brenda Steinhauer, Shaun Teamer, John Marzette, Madison Johnson, Edward Patterson, Derek Kjenstad, Eric Willis
written by Matthew Dunehoo, music by Funeral DJs (= Jennifer Whedon, Justin Whedon), Matthew Dunehoo, visual effects by Shahnam Haider
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Nat (Martin L. Washington jr) is a recovering alcoholic who's really
serious about his sobriety so he can help his boyfriend Adam (Kevin
Medlin), who's hard struck by cancer, through chemotherapy. And it's
thanks to his best friend Aleah (Erin Day), his sponsor at Alcoholics
Anonymous, that he can be that rock for Adam. But then Adam's mother Anna
(Maria Olsen), a bible-thumping bigot, throws Nat out of the house,
blaming their relationship as the cause for Adam's cancer. It's hardly
surprising then that Nat has a bad relapse and drinks the night away.
Thank God another good friend of Nat's, Jean (Shannon Conley) picks him up
and helps him recover. Thing is she's a self-professed healer with strong
esoteric roots who tries to speed up recovery in a ritual that almost
kills Nat - so eventually she calls in her teacher and idol Peter (Joe
Rooney) for help, and the two find Nat has tremendous healing powers
within himself. Now Nat is pleased to hear that, as he figures as a
"healer" he can cure Adam's cancer, that way convince his mother
that he's worthy, and the two can come back together to live as a couple.
Meanwhile, Jean's getting worried as she hasn't heard from Nat since
his bender (where Nat lost his phone), and she tries to investigate, but
time and again runs into a creepy bandaged guy, Jimmy (Cam Burns), who
tries to get much closer to her than she's comfortable with, and who
freaks her out.
Nat manages to actually cure Adam with Peter's help, but is not
welcomed back into Adam's family with open arms but chased away. What's
worse though, Peter's playing a crooked game, using both Nat and Jean as
mere pawns - only Nat doesn't like being treated like a pawn ...
Now Wretch starts out almost deceivingly cheesy, as something
close to an extended AA advertisment, really - but fortunately, that's
exactly the technique the film uses to slowly but surely erode the world
it has created and drag things into a grotesque and often very creepy
direction, and while the beginning might suggest little more than white
picket fences, the story soon descends into a dark and surreal mystery
where much is guesswork and little is what it seems. And thanks to a
well-structure dscript, a directorial effort that finds the balance
between being grounded and letting loose, and a solid ensemble, Wretch
turns out to be a delightfully disturbing film what horror films are bound
to appreciate.
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