Review: ‘The Wanting Mare’
Once every few years, a movie comes along that is so special and unique, so original and daring, that it’s a miracle that it even exists in today’s IP-driven landscape. This year, it is The Wanting Mare, an ambitious, poetic and breathtaking experience unlike anything audiences have ever seen before.
Marking the directorial debut of visual effects artist Nicholas Ashe Bateman, The Wanting Mare takes place in the fictional world of Anmaere, more specifically the city of Whithren, a grimy, rundown place suffering from an eternal and unrelenting heatwave. Across from Whithren lies Levithen, a continent that is opposingly in a constant state of winter. Horses are Whithren’s most valuable export so the citizens of Whithren spend a bulk of their year attempting to hunt down these horses and subsequently sell and ship them to Levithen, a trip that only happens once year. The people of Whithren, desperate to escape the terrible conditions of the city, attempt to track down an elusive and highly coveted ticket for the trip in search of a better life.
The Wanting Mare follows Moira (played across decades by Ashleigh Nutt, Jordan Monaghan and Christine Kellogg-Darrin), a young woman, whose mother passed away during childbirth, relentlessly searching for a ticket to Levithen in the hopes of leaving her uneventful life behind. Despondent and dejected by her current situation, Moira also finds herself haunted by a recurring dream, one that her mother and her ascendants also experienced prior to her birth. A chance encounter with a mysterious figure, who Moira believes may be her only chance at getting a ticket to Levithen, changes the course of her life forever, causing a ripple effect that will affect the lives of her descendants as well.
A generation-spanning, genre-defying epic, The Wanting Mare draws inspiration from The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars in its pursuit of expansive world-building, but ultimately, its execution couldn’t be more different from those films’ action-packed, adventure-based nature. Introspective, dreamy and poetic, The Wanting Mare is more concerned with establishing the struggles and internal battles of its characters rather than placing them directly in tedious missions in an attempt to drive the story forward. The Wanting Mare explores the subtle moments we don’t see in those movies, the quiet spaces that go largely ignored in favor of big set-pieces. Bateman is just as enamored with his characters as he is with the gorgeous, sweeping world he has intricately built around them, exploring their hopes, dreams and psyches in a way that feels perceptible and authentic. Comparing The Wanting Mare to the works of other writers and directors would be doing a real disservice to the monumental film Bateman has managed to make, but one can’t help but wonder if this is what it would look like if Terrence Malick were to write and direct a Star Wars film.
Visually, The Wanting Mare is just absolutely stunning. Every single frame is a painting come to life thanks to the painstaking work done by Bateman, who manually worked on the backdrops himself. While the entirety of The Wanting Mare was filmed in warehouses and backlots, with a blue screen playing the part of the world of Anmaere (all extensively detailed in the behind-the-scenes documentary that accompanies the film), none of it feels contrived or inauthentic. A visual effects artist himself, Bateman has managed to bring his own expertise with crafting entire places and worlds in other projects into play here, creating an entirely new world that feels just as tangible, just as palpable as ours, even if it is a little bit beyond reach.
The performances also play a part in humanizing the fantastical, futuristic world of The Wanting Mare, anchoring some of the film’s wilder aspects and allowing the audience to establish a connection with its characters. Ashleigh Nutt, Jordan Monaghan and Christine Kellogg-Darrin, who all play Moira during different parts of her life, deliver soulful, searing performances that naturally chart the progression of Moira’s journey. Edmond Cofie, who stars in the film as the haunted and initially belligerent Hadeon, is simply sublime, bringing layers and pathos to a character who may have come off as underwritten in another actor’s hands. Bateman, who appears in the film’s first act as a mysterious figure whose name and backstory are never revealed, has the presence and charisma of a leading man himself.
Haunting, mesmerizing and unforgettable, The Wanting Mare is all at once a dream come to life, a haunting poem visualized, a surreal fable realized. Nicholas Ashe Bateman has managed to create a towering technical, visual and narrative achievement, one that may be giving audiences an exciting glimpse at where the future of indie filmmaking may be heading.
Rating: 5/5
The Wanting Mare is now available on VOD.