WILDCAT (2024)

MPAA: NR.
Release Date: 05/03/24 [Cinemas]
Genre: Biography. Drama.

Studio: Oscilloscope Laboratories. 

THE PREMISE:

"Follows the life of writer Flannery O'Connor while she was struggling to publish her first novel." 

OUR MOVIE REVIEW:

A Good Film is Hard to Follow

The writer's journey is usually frustrating because of its compulsory internalization. Prolific and celebrated authors have lived through life where their output is first manifested and processed through their heads and then committed to paper. Before the writer can assemble their words, they will drift in and out of reality, finding the story in their experiences. At least, that is what Ethan Hawke tries to convey throughout his film Wildcat, which stars his daughter Maya Hawke as Southern Gothic American writer Flannery O'Connor. 

O'Connor, who was ironically very religious yet held fringe opinions when she lived, was a pioneer of American authors. While influenced by her religious and moral upbringing, her work often explored flawed protagonists, intimations of faith, ethical dilemmas, and jarring violence. I remember reading her short 'A Good Man is Hard to Find' in college, sensing the humor and humanity juxtaposed with the horror. Wildcat, an amusing choice for a title given Hawke's meek portrayal, tours O'Connor's life in her mid-twenties as she grapples with contracting lupus and mending a tenuous relationship with her mother (Laura Linney). 

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I appreciate Ethan Hawke's attempt to meld fiction and reality here; sometimes, it works well. Sometimes, Wildcat comes off as a confusing mess. Hawke takes big swings in establishing the root of O'Connor's prose. After leaving New York, O'Connor travels back home to Milledgeville, Georgia. She has contracted lupus, the disease that claimed her father. Her mother knows her daughter has a writing gift but cannot always understand what she is trying to say. This film categorically focuses on this particular part of O'Connor's life, serving as a segmented biopic rather than a holistic one. While this chapter of the author's life is interesting as it shows her having to deal with succumbing to her disease while also trying to reconcile with her mother, it feels incomplete. The film's end presents some closure with text-on-screen exposition that explains the final years of O'Connor's life. But it felt like there was so much material left on the table. 

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The blending of reality and fiction in Wildcat is a challenge that many viewers might find a burden to navigate. Scenes that play out as manifestations of O'Connor's internalizations tend to blur with the actual true narrative, creating a complex and layered storytelling experience. There are a number of sequences where we see her play out scenarios on a bus, in a waiting room, in a diner, that end up being part of an idea or story that exists only in her head. Ethan Hawke allows these scenes to unfold, and we sometimes find ourselves immersed in the intricacies of O'Connor's mind. This method is a commendable attempt to do something that is undoubtedly challenging to transfer from page to screen. While they do not always land, the effort to keep up can be a rewarding part of the viewing experience. 

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This is undeniably a visually stunning film. The lighting and set decoration expertly transport us back to the American south in the early to mid twentieth century. Maya Hawke's performance is a standout, with her emotional depth and commitment to the role of O'Connor shining through. At times, she is unrecognizable in her make-up as O'Connor, a testament to her transformative acting. She is the most compelling part of this film, and her portrayal of O'Connor's tone and attitude informs the audience how O'Connor developed into the often nuanced and cynical writing legend she became.  Laura Linney also delivers a strong supporting performance, skillfully navigating between her role as O'Connor's well-meaning and grounded mother and the caricatures of people in Flannery's fantasies. 

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Wildcat is an arthouse film, not a blockbuster. Given that the niche centerpiece of the film dials in on a southern writer who writes in a gothic style about southern life, WIldcat has no business being a blockbuster. This film will not make a big splash in its wide release; Wildcat reflects on a particular period in an author's complicated and often tragic life. Like O'Connor's words, Wildcat won't be a film for everyone. The connective tissue between reality and fiction can be a heavy task. Perhaps that was the point.