Wildhood

A 2-spirited teen drags his younger brother along, as he escapes their abusive father and searches for their mother. Along the way, he meets people who help him become acquainted with his Mi'kmaw heritage, and to express his sexuality.

This is a good 1st feature by the writer-director. However, the film is a bit too long, the leads are a bit too slender, and the coincidences seem a bit stretched. See it if you are interested in the themes, otherwise skip it.

I wholeheartedly believe that everyone should have access to motion picture storytelling. Movies should be made for, and made BY, every culture on planet Earth.

The positive of this is we all get to explore similar themes from a different point of view. Here, we're getting a road trip of sorts with two brothers in search of something. Accompanying them is someone more plugged into the tribe that the older of the brothers shares. But make no mistake, he's an outcast all the same because he is openly gay. The relationship they build is uneven and feels a lot like yaoi, a subgenre of Japanese anime largely written for women by women about gay men. But at least it's pretty spicy. (Or lemony as they would say.)

Filmed with an eye towards beauty, it's also extremely deliberately focused on pace. Outbursts lead to quick cuts in action. Similarly, when there are moments of reflection -- of which there are many -- the camera does not waver.

Unfortunately, the negative side of the coin is that all the tropes are here as well. Hypermasculinity and paternal abuse being the most overexposed. There are also elements of both racism and tribalism as well, though this is amusingly shown in nearly identical scenes in different convenance stores.

I think ultimately there is enough here to appreciate though. While it is absolutely never good when a movie is written, directed, and produced by one person, at least in this case it's someone who is Two-Spirit, indigenous, and obviously knows what they're talking about.

The acting, score and cinematography is stellar. Story wise it's also really good. It is one of those rare films where I wanted the story to continue. It perfectly balanced the intersectionality of identity, culture, heritage and family. This is cinema done well and I look forward to seeing the main leads in upcoming projects.

Great casting, soundtrack, and coming of age story. Very emotional and touching. Some people think it's too long, but I disagree. It's the length it needed to be.

Continuity, dialogue, and acting are somewhat inconsistent. The young boy's gauze eye patch somehow survives a raucous swim to remain in place for days (with variable appearances from day to day). Some aspects of the script are excellent, but some exchanges are so cliched that actors struggle to stay genuinely in character. That's all easy to overlook because some aspects of the acting and some shots are powerfully real, AND the overall arc is meaningful. This movie tells a good story, and I can well imagine many sorts of young people enjoying it thoroughly and being anxious to discuss it afterwards. Reaching the end of my review, I realized.