Wildhood is a coming of age film that explores how a young person does this when he doesn't know much of who he is. Lincoln (Phillip Lewitski) takes care of his half-brother Travis (Avery Winters-Anthony) trying to avoid his highly abusive father Arvin (Joel Thomas Hynes).
Lincoln discovers happenstance that his mother is still alive. After a fight with his father, Lincoln takes off with Travis on a quest to find her.
They come across openly two-spirit Pasmay (Joshua Odjick). Lincoln is also two-spirit but hasn't really explored any of this. Two-spirit deals with cultural, spiritual, sexual and gender identity within some Indigenous communities.
Pasmay helps Lincoln on his quest as they also are tempted in exploring each other.
Bretten Hannam, writer and director, adapted this film from his earlier short film Wildfire, winning Best Short Film at the Screen Nova Scotia awards in 2020. Hannam tells most of the story through looks and gestures. There isn't that much dialogue, especially once Lincoln and Pasmay meet.
You will likely have questions, lots of them. The stereotype of the Indigenous spirit guide: is that also offensive is the other person is half Mi'kmaq? Both Lincoln and Travis ask Pasmay for Mi'kmaq words often in the film. Pasmay teaches Lincoln a Mi'kmaq dance. Pasmay puts his life aside to help Lincoln. Why?
We don't discover answers or motivation. In fact, we don't really learn much about any of the major characters. The only one we seem to learn about is Sarah (Savonna Spracklin), which is all the more interesting in an otherwise testosterone-laden film.
Hannam makes a choice to not translate most of what is said in Mi'kmaq. Your humble narrator rarely needs a Q&A from the director but that choice needs an answer. As we noted, the dialogue is sparse as it is. A film can succeed even when the audience doesn't know what is happening, but most of the time, this doesn't work. A lot of the English dialogue is rather basic; you hope what is said in Mi'kmaq is more meaningful.
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Michael Greyeyes has fun in a small role in the film.
The story is almost too easy, especially with the initial struggle. Your humble narrator hates too much confrontation but this film is shockingly light on confrontation. The film is rather simplistic storytelling; not much compelling or dramatic within the story.
The problem is that you have a great potential in the core story. Even a scene where Pasmay pushes back on being the spirit guide would have been an acknowledgment. A more meaningful script and Mi'kmaq translations would have made this a much better film.
Wildhood is a pretty film. The more you suspend reality, the more fun you will have with this film.
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Lewitski received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Actor at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022. The film debuted at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival.
Wildhood is available in the United States on Hulu.
video credit: YouTube/Mongrel Media
photo credit: Wildhood
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