The Wind review: Emma Tammi’s directorial debut offers a mashup of the period drama, the Western and the horror genre for a feminist feature that is richly layered, complex and chilling.
Signature Entertainment
Lizzie (Caitlin Gerard) and her husband Isaac (Ashely Zukerman) make the most of their remote existence, the only two people for quite the stretch of land. The latter’s work makes him mostly absent, but Lizzie has done a good job of making their isolated ranch feel like home. However, she’s haunted by a supernatural presence of some sort – rearing its head in the form of a wind – that torments her when her husband is away (who, naturally, struggles to be convinced of this entity’s existence whenever he returns to his traumatised home and wife). The arrival of new neighbours Emma (Julia Goldani) and Gideon (Dylan McTee) proves to be a respite from the ethereal chaos for Lizzie but, as they start to bond, she uncovers the truth about them.
Not only is it Tammi’s first foray into feature filmmaking, The Wind also serves as writer Teresa Sutherland’s first screenplay. Despite this, it’s a competently crafted and impressively written piece of work that shows no signs of being a first effort from both its ladies. The narrative is thick with dread and, early on, a great veil of intrigue. Tammi displays some stellar craftsmanship, utilising the the film’s minimalistic approach brilliantly to tool an atmosphere that is often chilling and claustrophobic and orchestrating tension to nail-biting and unsettling effect. It’s a technically proficient piece of cinema; the sound design is lavish and the film looks gorgeous; as well as great production design, the cinematography is sumptuous – making good use of the vast desert lands to add to the mood of the piece and the isolation of its characters.
Signature Entertainment
Where the film falters though is in its structure; the narrative unfolds in a non-linear fashion but it becomes way too convoluted for its own good. As mentioned, there’s a great veil of intrigue and mystery in the film’s initial stretch; sadly, this is lost quickly because the narrative reveals its hand way too early on, which deflates a lot of the film’s latter half. The story structure itself is also so ramshackle that it can be quite difficult to keep track of the various timelines and subplots going on which can mean the film feels unfocused and cluttered. It also causes the pacing to suffer drastically, jumping between arcs and periods without much coherence.
Thankfully though, there’s enough good to outweigh the bad. The performances are excellent, with Gerard stealing the show as the tough badass Lizzie – whom gets the balance of vulnerable and formidable just right. Tammi’s direction of tension and setting is also great; the film is full of its fair share of jump-scares, but they’re pulled off pretty well. The film never feels boring which is a testament to her craft for being able to keep the narrative consistently engaging – albeit if a little clunky.
The Wind was reviewed at Arrow Video Frightfest 2019. It is available on Digital HD via Signature Entertainment on Monday 2nd September 2019.
